REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA - The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said it has received a letter from the House of Representatives (DPR) requesting the presence of lawmaker Miryam S Haryani at a meeting of the House Special Committee (Pansus) to inquire the performance of KPK.

Miryam is now held in detention by KPK on charge of giving false testimony at court related to investigation of electronic-ID card procurement corruption case implicating many lawmaker and former lawmakers.

"We have received the letter from DPR and we respect the process of control by DPR.

"We show our respect such as by responding to the letter, but KPK also needs to ensure not to take a wrong step. In line with the law regulations, KPK would not want and may not break the law," KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said here on Friday.

Febri said KPK would answer the letter based on its consideration and in line with the law.

"We will see our position in carrying out our duty of investigation until the case is brought to court. We do not want to confuse legal affairs with political issue," he said.

He said KPK would answer the letter not later than next Monday, adding "We would send a complete answer."

KPK chief Agus Rahardjo, however, already said that KPK would definitely not allow Miryam to be present at the Pansus meeting.

"Never. She is in detention for investigation of her case," Agus said on Friday as quoted as saying.

Miryam has been in detention since May 1, 2017 after she was named a suspect.

The Pansus on KPK was formed after the anti graft agency refused to hand over its recorded process of Miryam investigation to the House Commission III triggering political controversy.

The controversy is over the legality of the Pansus and motive of the house in exercising its inquiry right on KPK.

Lawmakers claimed Pansus would strengthen KPK in its function to eliminate corruption, but many experts and observers say the contrary dismissing the lawmakers' claim as groundless. A survey showed that the vast majority of the people believed that the Pansus was formed to cripple KPK.

"The motive as said by the Pansus leaders, was doubted when the Pansus chairman and lawmakers more active in forming the Pansus are implicated in the e-ID card procurement corruption," one observer said.

Earlier, Mahfud MD, the general chairman of the the Association of Instructors of Constitutional Law - State Administration Law said that the process of forming the Pansus for Inquiry Right at the House is legally flawed.

The Pansus had been formed on not strategic matter, he said, adding based on the law inquiry right should be focused only important and strategic issue and concern the interest to the public in genera, not routine matter.

The issue raised by Pansus over Miryam that she was forced by her investigators, was an ordinary matter, Mahfud said.

"It was an ordinary issue . It is not a big issue that requires the use of inquiry right. In addition it has been settled through a pre-trial," he said.

He said if the DPR thinks of using Pansus on wider targets, the DPR was taking a wrong step leading itself to offending regulation.

"Inquiry Right is focused on the original issue. DPR may not use it for fault finding. It would not be fair legally," he said.

The the former chief justice also said that the process of forming the Pansus for Inquiry Right at the House is illegal, adding

"It was wrong in subject in object and in procedure."

The object was wrong as the MD3 Law's chapter 79 said inquiry right is to investigate executor of the Law and/or government policy. The chapter said the government include the president, vice president, ministers, attorney general, police chief and government agencies including Basarnas and LIPI. Other agencies such as KPK are not government agencies, he said.

The procedure was wrong as the chairman of the meeting on the inquiry right hurriedly approved exercise of inquiry right before hearing the opinions of all factions, he said.

The MD3 Law said all factions have to be represented in the inquiry right Pansus. Three factions are not represented at the Pansus.

Meanwhile senior KPK investigator Novel Baswedan said that Miryam had told her investigators that she had been intimidated by a number of her fellow lawmakers telling her not mention facts about the distribution of embezzled fund from the e-ID card procurement project among the lawmakers.

The lawmakers included chairman of the House Commission III Bambang Soesatyo from Golkar faction, deputy chairman of the Commission Desmond Junaidi Mahesa from the Gerindra faction, commission members Sarifuddin Suding from Hanuara faction, and Masinton Pasaribu from the PDI-Perjuangan faction.

Later Miryam withdrew her statement read out by KPK prosecutor in a court session saying she had been forced to make the statements by KPK investigators.

However, a CCTV record of the process of investigation showed no signs of force being used by the KPK investigators on Miryam leading to her detention as suspect by KPK.

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