Antigraft law delayed

Antigraft law delayed

JAKARTA: Justice and human rights minister Hamid Awaluddin said
on Tuesday that his office may have to delay issuing a crucial
antigraft ruling as it was still focussing on relief efforts in
tsunami-hit areas in the country.

"We have made the draft but have not discussed it yet with law
experts as we are busy in Aceh," he told reporters after a
hearing at the Constitutional Court.

He earlier said that the ministry would immediately discuss
the draft with law experts before presenting it to the Attorney
General's Office, the National Police, and the Corruption
Eradication Commission.

But Hamid asserted that the drafting of the government
regulation in lieu of law, which would allow law enforcers to
detain high-profile corruption suspects right from the beginning
of the investigation, would be completed some time next month.

The ruling is being drafted in a bid to accelerate the
government's anticorruption drive. -- JP