REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The South Jakarta district court has rejected former Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali's pretrial suit against the decision of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) naming him in an alleged graft case.

"The court is of the view that whether or not the naming of a suspect is legitimate is not a pretrial domain, so the application is entirely rejected," Tatik Hadiyanti, the sole judge who handled the case, ruled on Wednesday (8/4).

She noted that the pretrial suit has been rejected based on article 1, paragraph 10 of the penal code adj. article 70, adj. article 82, paragraph 1, letter a, which states that the naming of a suspect is not a pretrial domain.

Commenting on a statement that the naming of Ali had been a forced measure, Hadiyanti stated it cannot be called a forced measure but a condition that allows a forced measure in the form of an arrest, detention, seizure or search.

The KPK has named Ali as a suspect in a case of the misappropriation of Hajj funds.

On February 23, the former minister filed a pretrial suit at the court challenging the KPK's decision of naming him suspect in the alleged graft case linked to the management of Hajj funds in 2012-13.

He filed another pretrial suit against the KPK on March 9.

Humphrey R. Djemat, one of Ali's lawyers, argued during a recent session on the pretrial suit that his client filed the suit as there was insufficient preliminary evidence to suggest his role as a suspect.

Ali's team of lawyers is of the view that the anti-graft agency did not meet all required conditions while handling his case and it did not find a state loss of Rp1 billion as alleged in the case.

The alleged graft case is about the misappropriation of budget funds for Hajj, including pilgrims' accommodation costs and transportation fees in Saudi Arabia. The mismanagement is believed to have inflicted losses worth Rp1 trillion on the nation.

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