Councillors face uphill battle against graft charges
A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
The 10 people who came to the Attorney General's Office here as representatives of councillors nationwide were kept waiting in a meeting room for more than 30 minutes.
When senior prosecutor Sudhono Iswahyudi finally entered the room, the councillors duly rose and shook hands with the powerful deputy head of the special crimes division. Sudhono took the seat at the head of the table and began the meeting.
Although unnoticed by most people, this meeting in August was extremely important, especially for the country's councillors, grouped under the Association of Regional Legislative Councils.
During the discussion, the representatives asked for an explanation from Sudhono about why hundreds of their fellow councillors had been investigated, prosecuted and convicted since May for graft, beginning with 43 councillors from the West Sumatra provincial council. They also asked the prosecutor to explain exactly what laws these councillors were being tried under.
They claimed that most councillors were unaware of or did not understand the laws regulating the financial management of legislative councils, so it was unfair to jail them for graft.
Legal observer Muladi said during a recent seminar in Jakarta that rampant corruption in the regions likely stemmed from one of two causes. First, councillors and prosecutors really do have different understandings of what constitutes corruption. Second, the councillors really are corrupt and are stealing the money for personal gain.
It is likely that the first cause was behind a case in Bandung where municipal councillors were accused of embezzling Rp 8.49 billion from the municipal budget between 2001 and 2002.
The case began when the councillors created a new budget item in the municipal budget, which they called the "operational post". This operational post was not mentioned in a government decree on the financial regulations of legislative councils (Government Decree No. 110/2000), and an anti-corruption activist spotted the budget item. The activist accused the councillors of embezzling money from the council budget, prompting prosecutors to launch an official investigation.
The councillors, however, insisted they had done nothing wrong. They said they needed the money to launch public campaigns about crucial issues concerning the municipality. They also said the budget item did not violate any laws or regulations.
They argued that Law No. 22/1999 on regional autonomy gave them the freedom to create new items in the municipal budget, as did several other regulations, including a council decree and a ministerial decree on the financial management of legislative councils. They said Government Decree No. 110/2000 was not the only regulation on councils' financial management.
Despite these arguments, however, prosecutors are adamant that the councillors should be prosecuted for violating the government decree.
However, there have been numerous councillors around the country who have been caught obviously enriching themselves through corruption.
Councillors have made up budget allocations to get additional money from the regional budget. They have misused state funds by allocating money for fictitious programs. Others have applied for insurance through the councils and then used the money to make house payments.
Muladi said prosecutors must be careful in distinguishing between corruption and simple misunderstandings. Prosecutors should scrutinize all laws and regulations while investigating a corruption case, and not simply rely on Government Decree No. 110/2000.
And if councillors are found to have committed corruption, prosecutors can level charges against them using the anti- corruption law, he said. But if they are only guilty of administrative mistakes, they should only receive administrative sanctions.
In order to end the confusion over the legal regulations governing the financial management of legislative councils, provincial and regency prosecutors' offices have conducted several workshops for councillors. During these workshops, councillors are briefed on what is and is not corruption.
Helping the councillors better understand these differences is important, but even more important is monitoring and preventing councillors from embezzling state money. Had a non-governmental organization in West Sumatra not reported corruption at the provincial council to the prosecutor's office, it is likely the councillors would have got away with stealing the public's money.
Constant monitoring is needed as corruption in regional councils has seemingly reached epidemic levels. As of August of this year, hundreds of councillors from 29 provincial, regency and municipal councils were being investigated for graft, with dozens of councillors already convicted and sentenced.
According to Sudhono, the amount of money stolen by corrupt councillors could reach trillions or rupiah.
Selected provincial/regency/municipal councils where council members have been investigated or prosecuted for graft in 2004 ------------------------------------------------------------ Region Alleged Sum Involved Status
Sidoarjo, East Java Rp 21.9b (US$2.4m) convicted Makassar, South Sulawesi Rp 18.23b suspects Manado, North Sulawesi Rp 9.6b suspects Kampar, Riau Rp 1.13b suspects Cirebon, West Java Rp 1.3b suspects Lampung Rp 23.5b suspects Padang, West Sumatra Rp 10.4b suspects West Sumatra Rp 6.48b suspects Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi Rp 1.9b suspects West Nusa Tenggara Rp 24.2b suspects ------------------------------------------------------------ From various sources