Governor vows to dismiss officials with fake diplomas

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

Governor of North Sumatra T. Rizal Nurdin vowed on Wednesday to dismiss civil servants found guilty of using fake university diplomas.

"If there are civil servants using bogus diplomas, we will dismiss them because it is a criminal act," he told The Jakarta Post in Medan, the provincial capital.

Rizal said his administration is currently dealing with a number of local officials accused of using counterfeit diplomas to obtain higher positions.

As part of efforts to find those involved in the crime, he said, he had ordered a general investigation into civil servants who had used their academic documents to seek promotion.

"The policy of launching such enquiries corresponds with government Bylaw No. 99/2000," the governor argued.

He said at least 116 officials in the North Sumatra administration had sought promotion after obtaining university diplomas.

Another 125 civil servants made similar proposals after they passed examinations at senior high schools, he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, the province's legislative council urged the governor to set up a team to investigate whether officials in his administration were among those using fake diplomas.

Serta Ginting, a deputy speaker of the council, said holders of bogus diplomas were "immoral" criminals, because not only did they fool their colleagues, but also the nation at large.

"The case should therefore be considered an extremely serious problem, and the North Sumatra administration must look into the academic qualifications of all civil servants. If their diplomas are proven fake, the holders should be dismissed," he said.

Local police had arrested at least nine people suspected of being affiliated to a syndicate producing counterfeit diplomas.

Two of the suspects are lecturers from Medan Area University and Nomensen University, both based in Medan.

Spokesman for North Sumatra Police Adj. Sr. Comr. Amrin Karim said on Wednesday that three more suspects were arrested for their alleged links with the syndicate.

The three suspects included a lecturer at Swadaya College, identified only by his initial S, he added.

Amrin said a total of 12 suspects have been detained at the police headquarters in Medan.

Sr. Comr. Iskandar Hasan, detective chief of the local police, said his office suspected the syndicate had operated since 1990.

Led by the coordinator of lecturers for private universities and colleges, identified only by his initials SDS, Iskandar said the syndicate had produced at least 25 fake diplomas for people from North Sumatra, Aceh, Riau and Kalimantan.

An unnamed member of the Aceh Singkil district legislative council was suspected to be among those who have bought bogus diplomas.