AGO to set up team to hunt graft suspects overseas

Eva C. Komandjaja The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) said it would soon form a special team to hunt down graft suspects who have fled the country as part of the effort to curb rampant corruption here.

AGO spokesman R.J. Soehandojo said the team would start its work after Indonesia and Singapore signed a long-awaited extradition treaty as many graft suspects have fled to the neighboring country.

"After the agreement has been signed then we can set up the team immediately," Soehandojo told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is expected to conclude the extradition treaty during his visit to Singapore next week.

The long-running issue, long deemed a thorn in bilateral ties, will be at the top of the agenda during his talks with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Feb. 15, Susilo told reporters.

"I hope that we can solve this problem on my visit there," he was quoted by Antara as saying, adding that the Singapore Prime Minister had given good signals on the issue.

For years Indonesia has been seeking an extradition treaty with Singapore, which would allow graft suspects who have fled to the island state to be returned home for trial.

Indonesia, which adheres to the civil law system rather than the common law system, has extradition agreements with Australia, Hong Kong and Malaysia, which, like Singapore, are common law countries.

Many corruption suspects, including dodgy bankers, businesspeople who have misused state funds and corrupt government officials are reportedly living in Singapore, where they are believed to have also parked their ill-gotten wealth. Many of them are thought to have been able to leave Indonesia by bribing law enforcers here.

Among of the graft suspects believed to be residing in Singapore are Maria Lumowa (a suspect in the Bank BNI scandal), Sudjiono Timan (a former top executive of state-owned investment firm PT Bahana Pembinaan Usaha Indonesia), and dozens of dodgy bankers who misused trillions of rupiah worth of state funds intended to bail out banks during the late 1990s financial crisis.

Soehandojo said that the special team, whose members would also include officials from the National Police, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the Directorate General of Immigration, would also be tasked with tracking down the personal assets of the corruptors so as to recover state losses.

"We expect that the team will do more than just find the fugitives and their assets. The team's tasks won't be limited to corruption cases only but will encompass all criminal cases, and an extradition agreement with Singapore will make things easier," Soehandojo said.

Susilo has promised to give top priority to the fight against corruption, a lingering problem that has cost the country dearly.

Separately, the President said on Thursday that he had signed a presidential decree on the establishment of the National Police Commission and the Public Prosecution Service Commission.

According to the President, the police commission's main tasks will be to assist the president in defining long-term policy for the National Police and to advise the president on the selection of the police chief.

The Public Prosecution Service Commission, meanwhile, will oversee the performance of the prosecution service.

Susilo also said that the government was now in the process of selecting the members of the Judicial Commission, which will oversee the performance of the country's judges, who have often been criticized for controversial rulings amid suspicions of widespread bribery.