House Commission III Says Business Decisions Cannot Always Be Deemed Corruption

Member of House Commission III Nasir Djamil has argued that business decisions cannot simply be dragged into or prosecuted as criminal corruption cases.

Nasir stated that the business world has its own rules that must be respected and heeded by law enforcement officials.

“So once again, I think there is a business entity that must be respected by those enforcing the law,” Nasir said during a discussion held by the Legal Journalists Association (Iwakum) in Jakarta on Friday (20 February).

The PKS politician highlighted the case of former President Director of state-owned ferry operator PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero), Ira Puspadewi, who was initially sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. However, the case drew criticism, and Ira was subsequently rehabilitated as she was found not to have caused any losses to the state.

“And if we look at Ira Puspa’s case, she actually generated profits for the state — so why was she criminalised?” he said.

Meanwhile, former Deputy Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Alexander Marwatan noted that criminal prosecution of corruption cases has largely relied on Articles 2 and 3 of the Anti-Corruption Law. However, for cases involving state-owned enterprises, Alexander argued that cases could instead be referred to the Limited Liability Companies Act or the State-Owned Enterprises Act.

Under those statutes, Alexander noted, there are provisions that may release directors from both criminal and civil liability.

“There is what is known as the business judgement rule,” Alexander said at the same event.

He therefore argued that in suspected corruption cases at state-owned enterprises, law enforcement must seek to establish a conflict of interest. If no mens rea is found, then the corruption allegations cannot be pursued.

“The essence of it is this — when it comes to Articles 2 and 3, when I was at the KPK, I would say: look for the conflict of interest. For bribery and gratuities, it is relatively more straightforward. What I look for is the conflict of interest,” he said.