Audit commission to be trained how to investigate
JAKARTA (JP): The Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) will soon collaborate with the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the National Police for the provision of training on conducting investigations.
Chairman of the audit commission Jusuf Syakir said on Tuesday that based on the collaborative venture, commission officers would receive training on how to question suspects and prepare the dossiers required for further investigation of corrupt civil servants suspected of corruption.
Jusuf admitted that such training was badly needed as he and his fellow commission members possessed inadequate skills in preparing case files.
This collaboration is expected to help speed up the investigation process, he said.
"During the first stage, the commission members will receive help from the Attorney General's Office for the investigation of any state officials suspected of being involved in corruption," Jusuf told a press conference after meeting with Attorney General M.A. Rachman.
"Should the commission find any indications of corruption, these will be submitted to the Attorney General's Office and the police for further legal processing," he said.
Rachman visited the commission's offices on Tuesday to finalize the collaboration agreement between the two institutions. As a result, a memorandum of understanding will soon be signed by representatives of the commission, the Attorney General's Office and the police.
"We need a uniformity of perception as between the three agencies so as to enable the commission's findings to be followed up on," said Jusuf, a politician with the United Development Party (PPP).
Rachman, meanwhile, said that should the commission find indications of corruption, his office and the commission would summon those suspected and jointly prepare their case files.
"This doesn't mean interference. No, we won't interfere in the workings of the commission," said Rachman.
"At our meeting today we agreed to follow up on the findings of the commission. The commission still needs to learn some technical skills," he said.
He added that if the commission's findings involved ordinary crimes, they would be handled by the police, while if extraordinary crimes were involved they would be handled by the Attorney General's Office.
Jusuf explained that next month his commission would start summoning public officials believed to have profited from corruption.
Meanwhile in Yogyakarta, at least 163 academics, lawyers and activists from various anticorruption organizations here signed a statement expressing concern over media reports about rampant corruption.
According to the reports, many judges, prosecutors and court clerks are believed to possess wealth amounting to billions of rupiah, far exceeding their official salaries.
"It doesn't make any sense, especially given the fact that many of them have long been complaining about their low salaries," said the chairman of Yogyakarta Corruption Watch, Ari Suseta, one of the 163 people signing the joint statement.
Others who affixed their signatures included the director of the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH), Budi Santoso, chairman of the Yogyakarta Legal Defense Institute (LPH) Triyandi Mulkan, and chairman of the Yogyakarta branch of the Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin) Kamal Firdaus.
The statement was addressed to the People's Consultative Assembly, the President, the House of Representatives, the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, the Attorney General, KPKPN, Ombudsman Commission, Indonesian Corruption Watch, Indonesian Judicial Watch, and the mass media.
"We urge the government to take resolute action against those believed to have acquired their wealth through corruption, collusion and nepotism," Ari said. (08/swa)