New antigraft decree planned<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said he would issue a new
\nanticorruption decree in a bid to make the country's antigraft
\ndrive \"more focused\" on government institutions.<\/p>\n
\"I will issue a new decree on the anticorruption drive in the
\nnear future,\" he said in a speech delivered at the opening of the
\nthe National Development Planning Meeting hosted by the National
\nDevelopment Planning Agency (Bappenas) at the State Palace on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
The meeting was attended by senior ministers and governors
\nfrom across the country.<\/p>\n
The president said that the new decree would be issued to
\nenable law enforcers focus more on \"some areas that are prone to
\ncorruption\". He did not provide details.<\/p>\n
The new decree would likely not take the form of a
\npresidential instruction, Susilo said. He added that the
\npresidential instruction on antigraft measures issued earlier
\n\"was a generic one\".<\/p>\n
In December last year, Susilo issued Presidential Instruction
\nNo. 5\/2004 on the country's national anticorruption plan. Susilo
\nhas been trying to demonstrate his commitment to fighting
\ncorruption since taking office in October last year.<\/p>\n
Anticorruption activists have criticized Susilo's decision to
\nissue the instruction, saying that an instruction was not a
\nstrong enough legal instrument.<\/p>\n
The government is currently drafting a government regulation
\nin lieu of law on the accelerated eradication of corruption<\/p>\n
It had promised to issue the regulation some three months
\nafter the president took office, but postponed it for further
\ndeliberation following public concerns that the regulation could
\nviolate the rights of suspects.<\/p>\n
Susilo has said on many occasions that curbing rampant
\ncorruption in the country will be among his administration's top
\npriorities. The anticorruption drive was given a boost when the
\nAnticorruption Court on Monday handed down a 10-year-jail on
\nsuspended Aceh Governor Abdullah Puteh following his conviction
\non corruption charges.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Susilo said that the government was determined to
\nbring convicted graft defendants who fled abroad to justice.<\/p>\n
\"We want to get those who have been convicted but absconded,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
The government, the President said, will hunt down the
\nfugitives and their assets abroad.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the government formed a special team, led
\nby Vice President Jusuf Kalla, to hunt down graft suspects who
\nhad fled the country and bring back the stolen funds.<\/p>\n
The team has focused its work on the clinching of an
\nextradition treaty with Singapore.<\/p>\n
Many high profile Indonesian corruption suspects and convicts
\nare reportedly living in Singapore, where they are believed to
\nhave also parked their ill-gotten wealth.<\/p>\n
Among the graft suspects believed to be residing in
\nSingapore are Maria Lumowa (a suspect in the Bank BNI scandal),
\nSudjiono Timan (a former top executive of state-owned investment
\nfirm PT Bahana Pembinaan Usaha Indonesia), and dozens of dodgy
\nbankers who allegedly misused trillions of rupiah worth of state
\nfunds intended to bail out banks during the late 1990s financial
\ncrisis.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/new-antigraft-decree-planned-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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