Endless discourse hampers efforts against corruption<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Legal analysts deemed that the endless arguing
\nover the reversal of the burden of proof in corruption cases may
\novershadow the efforts to eradicate the crime.<\/p>\n
They shared their views that the new system would not work if
\nit were not supported by the investigators themselves.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan said in a seminar on Wednesday
\nthat actually, without reversing the burden of proof, corruption
\ncases could still be easily brought to court as long there were
\nsufficient preliminary evidence.<\/p>\n
\"If there is a report that someone has committed corruption,
\nand this is supported by (witnesses') testimonies and strong
\nconfidence of the prosecutors that a crime has occurred, that is
\nenough to bring the case to trial.<\/p>\n
\"But the problem now is that prosecutors are always doubtful,\"
\nhe told the seminar, held by the research institute on human
\nrights and humanitarian law of the University of 17 Agustus 1945.<\/p>\n
Lawyers Indriyanto Seno Adji and Frans Hendra Winarta, members
\nof the team revising the 1999 Anticorruption Law, said the new
\nparadigm could only be used at trial, where suspects had to prove
\nthat their wealth was not obtained from corruption.<\/p>\n
The prosecutors were still obliged to prove their charge that
\nthe suspects committed corruption, Indriyanto said.<\/p>\n
The new anticorruption bill is now in the hands of
\nlegislators.<\/p>\n
Law professor Loebby Loqman of the University of Indonesia
\nargued that the new bill is actually similar to the old versions
\nof the 1971 and 1999 Anticorruption Laws which allowed suspects
\nto prove their innocence as being ordered by the judges.<\/p>\n
But he warned of further problems, should the reversal of the
\nburden of proof be imposed at the preliminary investigation,
\nsince it would violate the principle of the presumption of
\ninnocence, and it might also cause prosecutors to lose cases.<\/p>\n
\"Even if the prosecutors had strong evidence, the suspects
\ncould walk away, provided that they could hide any damaging
\nevidence.<\/p>\n
Frans stressed that the Attorney General's Office needed to be
\nproactive and work professionally to handle corruption cases.
\nGetting ready alone, as stated earlier by the Office's expert
\nstaff member Chairuman Harahap, was not enough.<\/p>\n
He added that the prosecutors should cooperate with people and
\nwith concerned non-governmental organizations.<\/p>\n
The idea of reversing the burden of proof was formally raised
\nby President Abdurrahman Wahid recently to expedite the state's
\ncampaign to cleanse the government and to recover trillions of
\nrupiah of state losses from corruption rampant during past
\nregimes.<\/p>\n
The investigation of many corruption cases could not be
\ncarried out thoroughly by the Attorney General's Office because
\nevidence of such white collar crime was difficult to obtain.<\/p>\n
Many people argued that should the new investigation system be
\nendorsed, it could be used to handle past cases.<\/p>\n
However, Indriyanto said, inserting a retroactive clause in
\nthe law to deal with cases occurring before it had been passed
\nwould only display the current government's intention to
\nretaliate at its political rivals.<\/p>\n
\"Our amended constitutional law and the international law
\nforbid retroactive principles. If we wanted to bring past cases
\nto court we could still use the old law,\" he said. (bby)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/endless-discourse-hampers-efforts-against-corruption-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}