Justice for sale<\/p>\n
The saga over the massive corruption case at Bank BNI has
\ntaken a new turn this week with new allegations of bribery and
\nextortion between the suspects and their investigators. One would
\nhave thought that since the return of the prime suspect Adrian
\nWaworuntu, after he had fled abroad, it should have sped up the
\ninvestigation and brought the case to a close once and for all.
\nInstead, the plot thickens.<\/p>\n
Media Indonesia newspaper has, for the past few days, led its
\nfront page with stories about behind-the-scenes negotiations
\ninvolving various players in the Rp 1.3 trillion loan scandal at
\nthe state bank. Perhaps the most damaging allegation, as far as
\nthe law enforcement agencies are concerned, came from Harris Is
\nArtono, one of the suspects, who said that he had been asked to
\npay US$100,000 by a senior prosecutor to have the charges against
\nhim either dropped or mitigated. Harris, who is due to be
\nsentenced soon for his part in the scandal, has nothing to lose
\nby going public with such allegations.<\/p>\n
Media Indonesia carried another story which said that two
\nsuspects also gave a check for Rp 5 billion ($550,000) to a top
\npolice investigator, again in the hopes of having their charges
\ndropped.<\/p>\n
But that check bounced, much to the chagrin of the red-faced
\ncop.<\/p>\n
All the bribe and extortion allegations have been vehemently
\ndenied by the people in question at the prosecutor's office and
\nthe National Police. But both men are now under investigation by
\ntheir respective offices. Those who made the accusations will
\nhave to be questioned, this time not as suspects but as witnesses
\nto help build the case, assuming there is one.<\/p>\n
Does all this sound overly familiar? Perhaps. But it is not
\nbecause it is the stuff our soap operas are made of. It all
\nsounds so familiar because bribes and extortion have become very
\nmuch part of the system in this country. Corruption has intruded
\ninto the political, economic, social and cultural system and
\nalso, as the BNI case shows, the justice system. It is probably
\nso commonplace that no TV producer has ever bothered to take it
\nup as a central theme of sinetron.<\/p>\n
Yet, it is a drama nevertheless, and a very tragic one
\nbecause, at least in real life, the villains seem to win all the
\ntime. The victims in such a plot, usually ordinary taxpaying
\nfolks who have to bear the brunt of the huge corruption costs,
\nare not part of the scenario anyway.<\/p>\n
But nothing could be as tragic as when the very people whom we
\nhave entrusted to lead the campaign against corruption are
\nthemselves corrupt. Sadly, it has long been an open secret that
\nin this country, justice is for sale. The scandal surrounding the
\ninvestigation of the BNI corruption case, whether true or not, is
\na sad reminder of the state of things with respect to our law.<\/p>\n
Certainly, there have been many times when corruption cases
\ncrashed and burned before the final court judgment was
\npronounced. They can crash at a variety of points along the legal
\nprocess; during the police investigation, at the prosecutors'
\noffice or during the trials. The huge inconsistencies in the
\nsentences passed, or in the treatments given to the suspects in
\nthe BNI loan scandal are indications that many forces other than
\nthe quest for justice are at play.<\/p>\n
Would it not be nice if, from time to time, such a saga came
\nto a happy end for the public -- where justice was truly served.
\nBy the looks of it however, the drama surrounding the BNI
\ncorruption case is going to go on for some time. All we can do is
\nsit back and watch, or switch to another more entertaining
\nchannel and come back from time to time. Like most sinetron
\ndramas, the plot in corruption dramas moves slowly, if at all.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/justice-for-sale-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}