Anticorruption law ineffective: Minister Lopa

Anticorruption law ineffective: Minister Lopa

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Justice and Human Rights Baharuddin
Lopa proposed yesterday a bill for reversing the burden of proof
to revise the 1999 Anticorruption Law that has been found
ineffective in fighting rampant corruption among civil servants
and state officials.

"The eradication of corruption must be conducted with great
thoroughness, including shifting the burden of proof to the
accused. Defendants must be assumed to be guilty unless they are
able to give evidence of their innocence," he said at the House
of Representatives' plenary session here on Monday.

Lopa said the rampant practice of corruption committed
systematically by civil servants and state officials, which has
brought great losses to the state, is a serious violation of the
people's social and economic rights.

He said that the investigative system stipulated by the 1999
law has been found ineffective to combat the practice of
corruption because law enforcers, especially prosecutors,
encounter difficulties in presenting evidence.

"Why? Because the accused, use sophisticated techniques to
hide their wealth gained through corrupt practices. Therefore,
the existing investigative system must be replaced by a reversal
of the burden of proof. Under this system, all civil servants,
state-owned company employees and state officials whose wealth is
not in balance with their monthly income, are obliged to prove
that they are not involved in corruption," he said.

He said the bill also inserted two types of data that could be
taken as valid evidence in the reversed investigative system.

The first group is any information or data gained through
electronic equipment, except telegrams, telexes, facsimiles and
e-mails. The second group is all documents in the form of
manuscripts, pictures, sounds, maps, photos, letters, signals,
figures, or other significant data, he said.

He added that shifting the burden of proof would provide a
strong legal basis for law enforcers, especially prosecutors and
judges, to uphold the supremacy of law.

Lopa said while the bill is being deliberated, the 1999 law
has been suspended, and the 1971 Anticorruption Law will take
effect again to avoid a legal vacuum.

Meanwhile, several legislators of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) expressed their pessimism
about the eradication of corruption due to the continued
political crisis.

Pataniari Siahaan said deliberation of the bill would take at
least six months, and this would give time for corruptors to
avoid prosecution.

"Supporters of the former corrupt New Order regime will have
an adequate time within the next six months to hide their
corrupted wealth to avoid prosecution. They are expected to make
every effort to strongly fight to prolong the bill's deliberation
as long as possible," he said.

Aberson Marle Sihaloho criticized the government for having no
strong commitment toward prosecuting corruptors.

"If the government had a strong political will to eradicate
corruption, it would have issued a regulation in lieu of the
reversed investigative system so that big-time corruptors could
be brought to court," he said.

Lopa had earlier stated that the government would issue a
regulation in lieu of the law, but several legislators, including
those from the Golkar faction, strongly criticized the idea. They
said that shifting the burden of proof should be regulated by law
so that the system would have a strong legal basis. (rms)