AGO launches internal reform drive

AGO launches internal reform drive

Eva C. Komandjaja and Rendi Witular, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) launched an internal
reform program compiled in a book titled Agenda Pembaruan
Kejaksaan RI during its 45th anniversary ceremony attended by
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the AGO building on Friday.

The 12 points of reform program was established due to
criticism from the public and the President that the AGO had not
done its best to solve cases of human rights abuses and other
crimes, especially graft cases.

The reorganization program -- which, among other things,
includes an overhaul of the office's human resources management
and recruitment process, and reforming the method of
investigation and prosecution -- will be among the first steps to
be taken by the AGO in its reform drive.

Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh said that changes in the
case management system would enable the public to access
information on the legal process of cases more easily as there
would be transparency in the system, thus making AGO prosecutors
more professional and accountable in their work.

Supervision of prosecutors' performance would also be a top
priority.

Fourteen people were recently selected to be on the
prosecutors commission as regulated in Presidential Decree No.
18/2005.

Meanwhile, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged
prosecutors and police to intensify their efforts in eliminating
corruption within their institutions.

In a speech delivered during the ceremony, Susilo ordered the
attorney general and police chief Gen. Sutanto to severely punish
any of their officials implicated in corruption.

"If corruption remains among law enforcers, the public's
acknowledgement of and trust in them will remain low, and
eventually our efforts in combating corruption will be
meaningless," said Susilo.

Susilo said corrupt law enforcers included those who used
their authority to enrich themselves by extorting money from
people, or those who colluded with bad people in return for
compensation.

"The government's anticorruption drive will be jeopardized if
prosecutors or police still commit corruption, which could
eventually be exposed to the public," he said.

According to AGO data, 961 graft cases have been processed by
the special crimes division but only 149 cases have been
completed.