ICW lawyers demand Djasrie's dismissal
ICW lawyers demand Djasrie's dismissal
JAKARTA (JP): Lawyers from the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) asked Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian Military Commander Gen. Wiranto on Monday to fire Military Police chief Maj. Gen. Djasrie Marin for defying an order to investigate corruption allegations involving suspended attorney general Andi Ghalib.
One of the lawyers, Marsaulina Manurung, said Djasrie should be dismissed because he failed to carry out an order from Wiranto.
The group of lawyers went to Wiranto's office on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat in Central Jakarta to protest Djasrie's revocation of Ghalib's status as a suspect in the bribery case, which involves businessmen The Nin King and Proyogo Pangestu, who have both been named suspects.
The lawyers failed to meet with Wiranto, who is in Dili, East Timor.
In their statement read out by Ida Warouw, the lawyers demanded Wiranto declare Ghalib, an active Army lieutenant general, a suspect in the case.
"Article 27 of the 1945 Constitution stipulates that all citizens are equal before the law and the government has the obligation to enact the law without discrimination," she said as quoted by Antara.
The lawyers said the failure to declare Ghalib a suspect indicated a conspiracy to save Ghalib from prosecution. "So we need concrete proof that all citizens are equal before the law."
Separately, acting Attorney General Ismudjoko said he would investigate allegations that Deputy Attorney General in charge of the civil code and public administrative affairs Jacob Saleh was involved in corruption while heading the South Sulawesi Prosecutor's Office.
The South Sulawesi-based Anticorruption Committee (ACC) reported to the National Police that Jacob took bribes on at least six separate occasions during his tenure in the office.
The coordinator of ACC's working committee, Asmar Oemar Saleh, also said he had evidence that Jacob received hundreds of millions of rupiah in return for issuing a letter halting the investigation into legislator Nurdin Halid. Nurdin was eventually tried for corruption, but he was acquitted of all charges.
Witness protection
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives said it was unnecessary to include a witness protection program in the antigraft bill it is currently deliberating.
The chairman of the special committee assigned to deliberate the bill, Agus Muhyidin, said on Monday the bill already provided for the safety of witnesses by prohibiting the disclosure of a witness' name and other identification during legal proceedings.
"It's not necessary to insert a special clause on witness protection because it is the police who will perform that duty," Agus, from the Golkar faction, told The Jakarta Post.
The Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation and Indonesian Corruption Watch urged the House on Friday to incorporate a witness protection program into the antigraft bill, which was drawn up to replace the anticorruption law enacted in 1974.
Agus said the bill was designed to boost people's participation in the nationwide anticorruption drive by encouraging them to report any cases of graft to the authorities or non-governmental organizations.
According to the draft law, a witness will be rewarded by the government after the case is prosecuted. The details of the reward will be determined at a later date by the government.
"We can refer to presidential decrees issued to grant medals to distinguished citizens or national heroes," Agus said.
The bill also calls for the formation of a joint team to investigate corruption cases which are difficult to prove.
Agus said an anticorruption commission would replace the team, which will comprise police officers and prosecutors working under the coordination of the Attorney General's Office, two years after the bill was passed into law.
The commission will only handle cases which involve high-level government officials, members of the military and businesspeople, and those cases which caused significant financial losses to the national economy.
The House is expected to endorse the bill on July 23.(05/amd)