Corruption case, poor performance plague AGO<\/p>\n
Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has been advised to immediately
\ndismiss Attorney General M.A. Rachman not only because of
\nallegations of corruption, but also for his poor performance in
\nboosting the image of his office.<\/p>\n
Rachman has been under constant pressure to resign, and
\nMegawati has also been urged to dismiss him for concealing some
\nof his assets in his wealth report presented to the Public
\nServants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN).<\/p>\n
Legal experts have said that Rachman weakened the public's
\ntrust in the Attorney General's Office as many big-time
\ncorruption and human rights cases had been left untouched or not
\nseriously prosecuted.<\/p>\n
\"Talking about the attorney general's performance is tiresome.
\nHe is no different from his predecessors, Andi Muhammad Ghalib,
\nMarzuki Darusman or Ismudjoko,\" noted lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis
\ntold The Jakarta Post over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Nursyahbani Kantjasungkana, the executive director of the
\nLegal Aid Institute's Association of Indonesian Women for Justice
\n(LBH-APIK), shared a similar opinion.<\/p>\n
\"His (Rachman's) performance is disappointing. Since he took
\non the job last year, he has failed to propel the national
\nanticorruption movement,\" she told the Post separately.<\/p>\n
\"Many cases that have drawn serious attention from the public
\nare not followed up and some were processed with obscure and weak
\nindictments,\" she added.<\/p>\n
For example, Nursyahbani said there was persistent
\ndisappointment over the failure of Rachman's office to prosecute
\nthe former top leaders of the Indonesian Military (TNI)
\nimplicated in the 1999 atrocities in East Timor.<\/p>\n
An inquiry team established by the National Commission on
\nHuman Rights (Komnas HAM) recommended that former TNI chief Gen.
\n(ret) Wiranto and other top brass in power when the mayhem took
\nplace be held responsible for the violence.<\/p>\n
The trials were held in Jakarta only for lower and middle-
\nranking officers charged with involvement in the destruction of
\nEast Timor when it voted for independence on Aug. 30, 1999.<\/p>\n
Last August, the ad hoc Human Rights Tribunal at the Central
\nJakarta District Court acquitted former East Timor Police chief
\nBrig. Gen. Timbul Selaen and five other police and military
\nofficers of charges of crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n
State prosecutors had accused Timbul of failure to prevent or
\nstop his subordinates from committing systematic torture and
\nkillings in the country's former 27th province.<\/p>\n
Nursyahbani said the acquittals clearly showed that the
\nprosecutors had presented weak indictments, witnesses and
\nevidence in the trials. \"That's why, the court was able to throw
\nthem out easily,\" she added.<\/p>\n
She said that although House of Representatives Speaker Akbar
\nTandjung was sentenced to three years for misappropriating Rp 40
\nbillion (US$4.4 million) in state funds, prosecutors failed to
\ntrace what the ill-gotten money was spent on before it was
\nreturned to the state.<\/p>\n
Many believe that the funds were used by the Akbar-led Golkar
\nParty to help finance its political campaign ahead of the 1999
\nelections.<\/p>\n
Rachman was also slammed for his slow action in handling
\nanother high-profile graft scandal involving Bank Indonesia
\nliquidity support (BLBI), which cost the state billions of U.S.
\ndollars.<\/p>\n
The Attorney General's Office had to share the blame for the
\nrecent acquittal of Bank Indonesia Governor Sjahril Sabirin by
\nthe Jakarta High Court in connection with his role in the 1999
\nBank Bali scandal as the indictment presented against him was
\nweak.<\/p>\n
Weak indictments were also arranged against other defendants
\nin the same scandal, such as businessman Djoko S. Tjandra and
\nformer deputy chairman of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring
\nAgency (IBRA) Pande N. Lubis, which led to their acquittals in
\n2000.<\/p>\n
Todung said Rachman was not the only problem in upholding the
\nlaw.<\/p>\n
\"It depends entirely on President Megawati (Soekarnoputri's)
\npolitical will in law enforcement. From the beginning, she has
\nnot put justice or law enforcement on the priority agenda,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"If the situation doesn't change, all remains hopeless,\"
\nTodung said.<\/p>",
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