AG office must be 'free from interference'

AG office must be 'free from interference'

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Soedjono C. Atmonegoro said
yesterday he had proposed that his office detach itself from the
government and become a separate and independent institution.

Soedjono told reporters here yesterday that his office was
preparing a concept proposal on the issue which would be
completed on Monday, adding that he intended to submit it to
President B.J. Habibie soon.

"We demand an independent Attorney General's Office...We
should be the state prosecutor, not the government's prosecutor,"
Soedjono said after meeting University of Indonesia law school
students at his office.

Soedjono also said he told Habibie that the police force
should not continue to belong to the Armed Forces. Instead it
should answer directly to the President or put under the Ministry
of Home Affairs, he argued.

"Police should comply with civilian law, not military law,"
Soedjono argued.

The National Commission on Human Rights said on Tuesday that
police should be separated from the Armed Forces so that they
could be free to act as an independent body and be in a better
position to serve and protect the public.

The rights body said the police should follow a doctrine that
is entirely different from that of military, which is "to crush
enemies." The police, they said, exist to protect and serve the
public.

Soedjono, who has been a prosecutor for 34 years and was
appointed attorney general by former president Soeharto in March,
boasted that he was committed to reform of the legal system and
promised to uphold the law.

Soedjono promised to initiate reform in his office by changing
the "old mentality" of his subordinates.

However, analysts continue to doubt the ability of the
Attorney General's Office to address cases of corruption. (byg)