Marzuki pledges to 'clean up' office<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Newly-appointed Attorney General Marzuki
\nDarusman promised on Tuesday to start \"cleaning up\" his office
\nand pledged not to compromise in investigations of politically
\nsensitive cases.<\/p>\n
\"During the briefing, I told people here that we all knew how
\nthe past situation was here and beginning from today we will
\nstart a new chapter, old practices must not be continued,\"
\nMarzuki told reporters after delivering a speech before senior
\nofficials at his office.<\/p>\n
Tuesday was Marzuki's first official day as Attorney General
\nafter a hasty handover ceremony the previous afternoon.<\/p>\n
\"Negative perception and public skepticism against this office
\nmust be straightened out and to do that institutional processes
\nand control are needed to restore public confidence in this
\ninstitution,\" added Marzuki.<\/p>\n
When pressed further, whether he would be able to eradicate
\nrampant corruption in his office, Marzuki said: \"The dynamics of
\nthe Attorney General's office relies heavily on its leadership
\nmechanism... I appeal to everybody here to start something new\".<\/p>\n
The Attorney General's office has been under public criticism
\nsince it was charged in June last year to investigate the alleged
\ncorruption by former president Soeharto.<\/p>\n
The government of former president B.J. Habibie dropped the
\ninvestigation last month due to insufficient evidence. Many
\nbelieve that political willingness was lacking in the
\ninvestigation.<\/p>\n
The termination of the investigation against Soeharto led to
\nthe rejection of Habibie's accountability speech before the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly.<\/p>\n
Marzuki, a known reformist leader within the Golkar Party,
\nsaid last week that he would reopen the investigation.<\/p>\n
Marzuki also said that the Bank Bali scandal, which allegedly
\ninvolves a number of Golkar officials and Habibie's senior
\nadvisers, would be thoroughly investigated.<\/p>\n
\"I assure you that there will be no conflict of interest in
\nthe investigation, we will put that aside, and I have told
\nGolkar's chairman Akbar Tandjung that I have no choice except to
\ndo what I have to do as the Attorney General,\" Marzuki said.<\/p>\n
The scandal centers on Bank Bali's payment of more than Rp 546
\nbillion (about US$80 million) to a firm run by Setya Novanto, a
\nleading official in the Golkar Party, for the recovery of loans
\nfrom the Indonesian Banking Restructuring Agency.<\/p>\n
Marzuki promised that all of his investigations would be
\nconducted in a \"transparent\" manner.<\/p>\n
Marzuki also revealed that the handover ceremony from his
\npredecessor Ismudjoko, which earlier was scheduled to be held on
\nTuesday, had been hastily conducted on Monday afternoon at his
\nown request.<\/p>\n
\"I feel that I have been officially appointed and was sworn in
\nat the Palace last week, so I just wanted to get this simple
\ntechnical matter over as soon as possible,\" Marzuki said.<\/p>\n
Ismudjoko, a career official at the Attorney General's office,
\nwas named as an acting attorney general in June to replace Andi
\nM. Ghalib who was suspended for alleged bribe taking.<\/p>\n
A number of journalists on Tuesday repeatedly asked Marzuki
\nwhy the handover was held on Monday. Some of them accused him of
\ntrying to hide the event from the media.<\/p>\n
\"I will not interpret this as a personal matter, I know that
\nthe message is being directed at somebody else.<\/p>\n
\"I will remain the person that you already know, if there is
\nanything you need to ask, I will face that question and will tell
\nyou as it is,\" Marzuki said.<\/p>\n
Certainly the National Commission on Human Rights chairman
\nwill be dealing with an entirely new environment at the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office.<\/p>\n
Uncomfortable with the barrage of tough questions and
\nMarzuki's frank responses, a senior prosecutor standing in the
\nbackground was seen several times signaling to officials standing
\nbehind Marzuki to stop the press briefing.<\/p>\n
Marzuki, however, disregarded them and continued to happily
\nfield answers. (byg)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/marzuki-pledges-to-clean-up-office-1447893297",
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