52 prosecutors dismissed

MEDAN, North Sumatra: Fifty-two prosecutors have been dismissed this month for misrepresenting cases that have gone to trial, Attorney General M.A. Rachman said.

Rachman said that the dismissals were conducted in a bid to wipe out prosecutors who were hindering the law enforcement effort.

He said that the dismissals were also aimed at improving its tarnished image in the community where the prosecutor's office is considered the center of trial fixing.

"In a bid to improve our negative image, we have to deal with corrupt prosecutors," Rachman said.

Disclosing that all the dismissed prosecutors did not include those in North Sumatra, the attorney general said last week that he had not been informed about any corrupt prosecutors in that province.

Chairuman Harahap of the North Sumatra Prosecutor's Office said there were reports of several prosecutors in North Sumatra that were classified as not clean.

But they are under surveillance so it is unclear at which level they are corrupt, Chairuman said. --JP