Attorney general defends probe against whistle-blower

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh has struck back at critics who have accused prosecutors of politicizing the graft investigation into former state auditor Khairiansyah Salman, who helped reveal corruption cases in the General Elections Commission (KPU).

"This is merely a graft case investigation. Only those who think it is being politicized think like that," he told the press here on Friday.

Abdul Rahman lamented the Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) Indonesia's move to confer its Integrity Award on Khairiansyah for blowing the whistle on graft within the KPU.

"I just want to remind them (TI) that they should be more careful in presenting awards," he said.

Days after being awarded by TI, Khairiansyah was declared by the Attorney General's Office a suspect in a haj fund scandal at the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

"Having such an award does not put anyone above the law. Besides, this (haj fund scandal) is a totally different case from the KPU graft case, right?" Abdul Rahman said.

Khairiansyah is charged with receiving embezzled funds collected from pilgrims by the ministry. He allegedly received Rp 15 million (US$1,500) in transportation allowances in 2003 from by the treasurer of the haj management directorate general at the ministry.

The money was believed to have been used to influence audit results on the haj funds by a team of auditors from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), which included Khairiansyah.

Khairiansyah won the Integrity Award for blowing the whistle on high-profile corruption in which all KPU members and staff officials were implicated. Several have since been convicted while others are currently on trial at the Anticorruption Court.

TI Indonesia has criticized the Attorney General's Office for "singling" out Khairiansyah in the investigations into the haj fund scandal at the religious affairs ministry, while based on data from prosecutors, 18 other state auditors also accepted money from the ministry to cover up graft cases.

Unlike Khairiansyah, most of the alleged recipients remain free. Former religious affairs minister Said Agil Hussein Al- Munawwar and former subordinate Taufiq Kamil are on trial in the haj fund scam.

The Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), a leading antigraft watchdog, also criticized the Attorney General's Office, saying that charging a whistle-blower could discouraged civil servants and other people from reporting corruption.

Khairiansyah, however, returned the money he received from the religious ministry to the state. He also returned the award on Thursday to TI so as not to tarnish the conferment of the prize. The Integrity Award was first given in 2000 to individuals with persistence, courage and innovative achievements in combating corruption.

Abdul Rahman instructed the immigration office to ban Khairiansyah from traveling abroad after he was named a graft suspect.

Khairiansyah said on Friday that the award was not meant for him alone but for other Indonesian people in the future, stressing that he would continue with his commitment to combating corruption.