Akbar's verdict will not help in fight against corruption

Berni K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The sentencing of the House of Representatives speaker to three-years jail in a country where corruption is rife may seem like a milestone, but critics say the verdict lacks the punch needed to raise the fight against corruption to new levels.

Anticorruption activists Bambang Widjojanto and Teten Masduki said the sentence handed down by the Central Jakarta District Court to House speaker Akbar Tandjung for stealing Rp 40 billion (US$4.4 million) from the state provided little disincentive for would-be corruptors.

"It (the verdict) may have been unexpected but it hasn't met the public's sense of justice," Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) chairman Teten said on Friday.

"There is nothing in Akbar's verdict that would deter other people from committing the same crime," said Bambang, former chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI).

He said not only was Akbar's sentence pitifully short of the 20-year maximum, but the judges also let him walk free while his appeal is processed. A final verdict could take months or even years.

In March, central bank governor Sjahril Sabirin was sentenced to three-years prison, but never jailed. He was acquitted by the High Court last week.

He and Akbar are among the privileged few who may enjoy freedom as convicted criminals, while ordinary people are often jailed immediately.

Bambang expressed doubt that Akbar's trial marked a turning point in netting more high-profile corruptors.

Widespread corruption has been slowing the government's efforts to woo investments in a country which badly needs an injection of foreign capital. About eight million people have entered the job market recently as the country battles to revive its flagging economy.

The People's Consultative Assembly decree VIII/2001 required corruption be treated as an extraordinary crime. But the three- year verdict against Akbar was anything but extraordinary, said Bambang.

"Judges should have taken account of the political decision to squash corruption," he said.

Akbar's trial was controversial from the onset. His powerful position as House speaker as well as chairman of the Golkar Party, the country's second largest political party, raised questions about whether the government was up to the task of convicting him.

Analysts have said a successful conviction might lead the way to more corruption cases implicating Golkar members, many of whom are still influential.

The party had been the political machinery for Soeharto's 32- year authoritarian rule. And many believe Golkar's weakness lies with its past and especially in having people like Akbar around.

For President Megawati Soekarnoputri, the verdict could lend her anticorruption campaign a boost. However extracting more from Akbar's troubles risked provoking a Golkar backlash.

Last July Megawati blocked legislators' attempts to launch a political investigation into Akbar, while at the same time expressing confidence in the state's ongoing investigation.

But legal experts said that state prosecutors had watered down Akbar's case by refusing to investigate the beneficiaries of the money.

This move, Teten said, shut off the possibility of tracing the money to Golkar whom many suspected received the funds ahead of the 1999 general election.