Jakarta. The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has named Meirizka Widjaja, mother of convicted assailant Gregorius Ronald Tannur, as a suspect in a bribery case involving three Surabaya District Court judges. Meirizka is accused of attempting to influence the judges through her son’s defense lawyer, Lisa Rahmat, who allegedly arranged bribes on her behalf.

According to Abdul Qohar, Director of Investigations for the Deputy Attorney General’s Special Crimes Unit, Meirizka approached Lisa Rahmat to act as her son’s attorney, with the specific request to influence the judges' decision in favor of acquitting her son. "Meirizka initially reached out to Lisa because they knew each other," Qohar explained in a press conference on Monday.

Their meeting on October 5, 2023, allegedly involved detailed discussions about bribing judges to secure Ronald’s release. Meirizka is said to have provided approximately Rp 1.5 billion (around $97,000) in total funds for this purpose, which were disbursed over time to cover legal fees and bribes, with Lisa covering additional costs that brought the total to Rp 3.5 billion.

The AGO has detained Meirizka, who will remain in custody for 20 days as investigators continue gathering evidence on her role. Her husband, Edward Tannur, a former parliament member, was also aware of his wife’s actions, according to Qohar, though he claimed no knowledge of the exact sums involved, citing his frequent business travels as a reason for limited involvement.

When asked if Edward could face charges, Qohar said the AGO would hold him accountable if sufficient evidence of criminal involvement is found. “Anyone who participates in a criminal act will be held responsible as long as there is enough evidence,” he affirmed.

Prosecutors recently re-arrested Ronald Tannur after the Supreme Court overturned his initial acquittal, convicting him of aggravated assault for the fatal incident that led to the death of his girlfriend, Dini Sera Afrianti. Ronald’s acquittal had sparked public outcry after video footage showed him allegedly ramming his car into Dini in a parking lot, an action the initial trial court downplayed, attributing her death to excessive alcohol consumption.

The appeal to the Supreme Court also prompted a secret investigation by the AGO, leading to the arrest of the three Surabaya judges—Erintuah Damanik, Mangapul, and Heru Hanindyo—along with defense attorney Lisa Rahmat on bribery charges. Searches of the judges’ homes reportedly uncovered over Rp 20 billion in cash, allegedly received in exchange for Ronald’s acquittal.

Following the arrests, the Supreme Court overturned the acquittal, sentencing Ronald to five years for aggravated assault, though not on murder charges. Days after this decision, the AGO arrested former Supreme Court official Zarof Ricar, who allegedly accepted bribes to influence judges involved in Ronald's case. Prosecutors claim Zarof received Rp 5 billion from the defense team, intending to distribute it among Supreme Court justices handling the appeal.

A search of Zarof’s Jakarta residence revealed a huge sum of Rp 920 billion in cash and 51 kilograms of gold bars, which the AGO links to his alleged history of corrupt activities. 

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