Antigraft teams may overlap<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The antigraft team set up recently by President Susilo Bambang
\nYudhoyono may overlap with the duties of other existing
\nanticorruption bodies, thus could put efforts to eradicate the
\ncrime in disarray, observers say.<\/p>\n
Romli Atmasasmita, who leads the Corruption Eradication Forum,
\nsaid on Friday that the establishment of the new team had given a
\nmorale boost to law enforcers to eradicate corruption, but it did
\nnot guarantee the effectiveness of the country's anti-corruption
\ndrive.<\/p>\n
\"The team reflects the President's expectation to lead the
\nantigraft movement directly. But, whether it will be effective
\nwill depend very much on the National Police Chief and the
\nAttorney General,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Secretary-General of Indonesia Transparency International Emmy
\nHafild shared the concern, saying the existing anticorruption
\ninstitutions had yet to perform satisfactorily.<\/p>\n
\"The presidential decree does not elaborate how the new team
\nwill coordinate the antigraft drive,\" Emmy said.<\/p>\n
President set up the 51-strong anticorruption team, consisting
\nof prosecutors, police officers and state auditors, in a bid to
\naccelerate the antigraft drive.<\/p>\n
It is authorized to investigate and prosecute graft cases,
\nhunt and arrest suspects, as well as trace and keep their assets
\nfrom possible laundering or illegal transfer abroad.<\/p>\n
Many of the new team's jobs are exactly the same as Vice
\nPresident Jusuf Kalla's team, called the Swindler's Hunting Team,
\nwhich also comprises prosecutors, police officers and state
\nauditors plus Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials.<\/p>\n
Earlier the country welcomed the Corruption Eradication
\nCommission (KPK), which is specialized in investigation and
\nprosecution of corruption cases which cause Rp 1 billion or more
\nin state losses. The commission is authorized to take over cases
\nfrom prosecutors and police and bring suspects to the
\nanticorruption court.<\/p>\n
The Criminal Code refers to the police and prosecutors as the
\nlaw enforcers in dealing with crimes of corruption. But the
\nreform movement in 1998 suggested radical moves to combat
\ncorruption, which had plagued the country under Soeharto's New
\nOrder regime.<\/p>\n
Romli called on the dissolution of the Swindler's Hunting Team
\nto anticipate possible overlapping jobs with the new antigraft
\nteam.<\/p>\n
\"The hunting team should be dissolved or merged with the new
\nteam, because they do the same work,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Romli suggested that the government amend the existing law to
\nenable corruption cases investigated by police and prosecutors to
\nbe heard in the anticorruption court, which he deems to be
\ncleaner than district courts.<\/p>\n
\"The Attorney General's Office and the National Police also
\nneed to talk with the Supreme Court, because no matter how clean
\nthe prosecutors and police officers are, their work will be
\ndecided by courts,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Emmy asked the President to reform the bureaucracy
\nfirst before declaring war on corruption.<\/p>\n
\"The President may be committed to a fight against corruption,
\nbut it will be useless should the bureaucracy fail to support
\nit,\" she said, adding the President should introduce a forum to
\nregularly discuss the antigraft movement with all stakeholders.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the new antigraft team, National Police chief
\nGen. Da'i Bachtiar said the team reflected the President's
\nexpectation that law enforcement against corruption would run
\neffectively.<\/p>\n
\"It will not strip the power of any (institution),\" he said.<\/p>\n
Da'i added that the team would work together with KPK and
\nother antigraft institutions if necessary.<\/p>\n
\"It will not overlap with the duties of the KPK because the
\nlatter does fall under the president. There will be no
\noverlapping, it's only a matter of coordination,\" he said.<\/p>",
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