AGO told to go easy on corruption suspects

AGO told to go easy on corruption suspects

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

With numerous corruption cases still hanging because of a lack of
evidence or other "difficulties", the Attorney General was told
on Tuesday to use his discretionary power to reduce or even drop
charges against graft suspects willing to cooperate in
investigations.

However, the idea's critics have said the move would only
further undermine the country's already-weak legal system.

In a seminar hosted by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) on
Tuesday, noted legal expert Indriyanto Seno Adji said the charge-
reducing system was needed to help prosecutors uncover
complicated graft cases.

Such special powers, locally known as the opportunity
principle, are regulated in Law No. 16/1996 on prosecutors, which
states that the Attorney General has the right to drop cases for
the "greater good" of the country.

Indriyanto pointed out that the immunity principle was not new
in the legal system but seldom used because prosecutors feared it
could undermine the legal system or would be in violation of
other laws.

However, if it was used with discretion and not abused the
immunity principle could greatly help prosecutors, he said.

"If the Attorney General wants to use the special power, then
it should be accompanied by an accountable law mechanism to
prevent any abuse of the law," Indriyanto said.

Speaking at the same seminar, Attorney General Abdul Rahman
Saleh said he would continue the prosecution process for graft
suspects in line with the prevailing anticorruption law.

"In the future, I hope that the Attorney General has the
capability to reduce charges. For now, while waiting for the
(anticorruption) law to be amended, we will continue the
prosecution process for graft cases as regulated in the existing
law," he said.

He cited the United Nations Convention Against Corruption,
which allows each party representing the state to consider
providing the possibility, in accordance with the fundamental
principles of a country's domestic laws, of granting immunity
from prosecution to a person who provides substantial cooperation
in the investigation or prosecution of an offense.

Graft cases are often difficult crimes to prosecute in
Indonesia as suspects often cover for each other and many
prosecutors have claimed they lack evidence or witnesses to
testify in cases.

In the high-profile graft case of embezzled funds from the
Bank Indonesia's Liquidity Support (BLBI), a suspect, Agus Anwar,
a former director of the now-liquidated Bank Pelita, offered to
return his ill-gotten gains with interest on the condition the
AGO dropped his case.

This sparked a public outcry as the Anticorruption Law No.
31/1999 does not offer graft suspects immunity from prosecution
if they return their money. Earlier legislation had been
interpreted by the courts to mean that no corruption had been
committed if the stolen money was paid back with interest.

People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Hidayat Nur Wahid
has urged state prosecutors to ignore the request and said
prosecutors should press ahead with the Agus' case.

However, the returned funds could benefit the cash-scrapped
country, especially if Agus was willing to cooperate by giving
valuable information to prosecutors in order to speed up the
investigation into other BLBI cases, Deputy Attorney General
Hendarman Supandji once argued.