Antigraft bill submitted

Antigraft bill submitted

JAKARTA (JP): Despite its foot-dragging probe into a number of
alleged corruption cases involving former president Soeharto, his
family and his cronies, the government submitted a bill on
Thursday to amend an anticorruption law to the House of
Representatives.

Minister of Justice Muladi said, "Corruption crimes must be
eradicated so that a just, prosperous and orderly Indonesia can
materialize," Antara reported.

Indonesia enacted the Law on the Eradication of Crimes of
Corruption in 1973. Another existing law relating to corruption
is the No. 11/1980 Law on Bribery and the Criminal Code.

Over two weeks ago, the government submitted another bill on
clean governance which would require government officials to
declare their wealth before and after their terms end.

The previous bill submitted was said to be an "administrative
law", while the latest will deal with corruption as a crime.

On Thursday, Muladi said the bill was drafted to strengthen
existing laws on corruption, which was conducted in sophisticated
ways now and hard to investigate. The bill also sought to assert
more deterrent effects on violators, thus, restoring foreign
trust in law enforcement here, Muladi said.

He said corruption could lead to environment hazards, abuse of
drugs, smuggling of destructive weaponry and tax evasion.

Corruption, which among others could lead to an economic
crisis, he said, "will eventually lead to a loss of public
trust." The most dangerous kind of corruption was that committed
by law enforcers and security apparatus, he added. (aan)