Government to set up anticorruption body

Government to set up anticorruption body

JAKARTA (JP): The government is to set up an anticorruption
body within two weeks as part of its commitment to the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), Attorney General Marzuki
Darusman said on Saturday.

"We will be setting up a joint anticorruption team within two
weeks, which will be the embryo of the independent anticorruption
body," Marzuki told journalists.

The team is expected to involve police and prosecutors, among
others. Marzuki did not elaborate further.

He was speaking after a cabinet meeting convened to discuss
the progress of the measures promised to the IMF in the letter of
intent signed by government in January.

In the letter of intent, the attorney general must form a
"coordinated investigative team" by April 8, that will have
independent authority to probe and bring corruption cases to
justice.

In February, Marzuki said the independent team would be
"reporting directly to the President, and that gradually all
cases of corruption will be handled by this agency."

Speaker of the People's Consultative Assembly, Amien Rais, has
called on the government to establish an independent antigraft
commission and suggested that it take as a model, the one
operating in Hong Kong.

President Abdurrahman Wahid has made corruption -- a rampant
and deep-rooted problem during 32-year rule of former president
Soeharto -- the main concern of his reform agenda. (cst/byg)