Fact Check: Did Ahok Tie KPK Bid to Death Penalty?
Fact Check - Viral poster falsely claims Ahok agreed to lead the KPK if a death penalty law for corruptors was enacted.
Tempo has investigated the claim that former Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, also known as Ahok, stated he would become Chair of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) if the death penalty were enacted for corruptors. The investigation utilized Google searches, reverse image checks, and input from reliable sources. The results confirm that Ahok never expressed a willingness to assume the KPK Chair position contingent on imposing the death penalty for corruptors.
Ahok explicitly denied ever making such a statement when contacted by Tempo's Fact-Check team on September 1, 2026. He stated via WhatsApp that the image circulating online falsely attributed the claim to him. In various interviews and podcasts since 2013, Ahok repeatedly opposed the death penalty, favoring the forfeiture of corruptors' assets instead.
He reiterated this position on the Merdeka.com YouTube channel on July 26, 2024, arguing that impoverished corruptors were preferable to wealthy ones able to hide ill-gotten gains.
The image accompanying the false story is also misleading, showing only a portrait of Ahok taken from Beritajakarta.id, while the second image features Immanuel Ebenezer Gerungan, a former Deputy Minister of Manpower, photographed by Antara during an alleged extortion probe at KPK's office - completely unrelated to the Ahok claim.
Based on the available facts, the assertion that Ahok would become KPK Chair if the death penalty for corruptors were enacted is categorically false.
Written by urgent.news from Tempo.co English's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
