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)