Embezzlers outnumber law enforcers, AGO says
Embezzlers outnumber law enforcers, AGO says
Rendi A. Witular and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Attorney General Abdul Rahman has the answer as to why Indonesia
is still considered one of the most corrupt countries in the
world despite its persistent fight against graft under President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"The problem is embezzlers outnumber prosecutors," Abdul
Rahman he said on Wednesday.
The latest global Corruption Perceptions Index issued by the
Berlin-based Transparency International placed Indonesia among
the six most corrupt nations, along with Azerbaijan, Cameroon,
Ethiopia, Iraq, Liberia and Uzbekistan, out of 159 countries
surveyed.
Based on the perceptions of business leaders, academics,
antigraft activists and risk analysts across Indonesia, the
country scored only 2.2 out of a possible 10, given to the least
corrupt nations.
The Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) head expressed no surprise over
the finding, although he said the government deserved credit for
its anticorruption drive.
"That's what the survey says. We should accept it. But, we
should also give the government credit for not halting probes
into graft as happened in the past," Anwar said.
Abdul Rahman said his office was selecting 25 prosecutors from
various regions, who are known to have clean track records, to
help the Attorney General's Office handle high-profile corruption
cases.
"We are also asked to supply more seasonal prosecutors to the
KPK, which has complained about its workload," Abdul Rahman said,
referring to the Corruption Eradication Commission.
The KPK is in the vanguard of the antigraft campaign, focusing
on cases that caused at least Rp 1 billion (US$100,000) in state
losses. It has prosecuted an incumbent governor and several
members of the General Elections Commission and is now
investigating an alleged case of "verdict buying" involving
Supreme Court justices, judges, prosecutors and lawyers.
The Attorney General's Office recruited 50 prosecutors from
the regions in July to back up its anticorruption division.
There are some 6,000 prosecutors across the country.
Abdul Rahman said the war on corruption was not solely the
domain of the government.
"All Indonesians, including lawyers, must work together to
stamp out corruption, rather than depending on prosecutors and
police officers only," he said.
Legal observers suspect corrupt law enforcers have been
undermining the antigraft movement.
Although saying that Transparency International's survey was
baseless due to its unclear evaluation system, Coordinating
Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie said the government
believed it had made headway in cracking down on corruption.
"There are a lot of improvements in out efforts to combat
corruption. It may be the first time in our history that
governors, regents, and legislators are questioned by prosecutors
and police over corruption. This is a breakthrough," said
Aburizal.
Aburizal also said the country's business community had
expressed satisfaction with the decreasing level of corruption in
the bureaucracy following the government's intensive measures to
stamp out the practice.
"TI should be fair in seeing the problem. We are not sitting
on our hands doing nothing to address this matter. They should
look at our efforts," he said.