Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Constitutional Court (MK) Chairman Mahfud MD said the status of former antigraft (KPK) chief Antasari Azhar would not change despite the court`s decision on Wednesday.

The court on Wednesday ruled in a judicial review of KPK Law Number 30 of 2002 on dismissal of KPK leaders on Wednesday that KPK leaders could only be dismissed following a permanent court verdict.

"Antasari cannot demand the right to be reinstated because the ruling is not retroactive," Mahfud said after presiding over a court session on the issue.

So, Antasari who has been dismissed as KPK chief by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono cannot ask the President to reinstate him in his KPK post.

Mahfud said Antasari was dismissed based on a KPK law effective at the time of dismissal which states that KPK leaders would be dismissed if he became a defendant while the law was amended only after the Constitutional Court issued its relevant ruling on Wednesday.

Antasari is currently on trial for allegedly masterminding the murder of a businessman. His trial turned dramatic after a police witness testified in a court session recently that Antasari had been framed.

Lawyers have filed a judicial review of the law to the court after their clients KPK deputies Bibit Samat Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah were named suspects in a case of power abuse and extortion later raising suspicion of a possible fabrication.

Based on the court`s ruling Bibit and Chandra will remain KPK deputies but their status will change if a court later convicts them. (*)

Editor: B Kunto Wibisono
COPYRIGHT © 2012

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