If integrity is not above everything

I get sadder by the day thinking of this nation's fate. One case which has been drawing public attention and concerns the Attorney General's Office number one, Andi Ghalib, has shown that if integrity is not above everything, problems will arise.

The question is, cannot all rotten cases in our country be prevented? I agree with the minister of justice's statement that in several cases, including the Ghalib case, it is the law that will prove who is guilty. The minister even said on radio on June 15 that in a bribery case, both the receiver and the giver must be investigated.

If Prayogo, The Nin King and other businesspeople understand about business ethics and conflicts of interest, such a case should not have taken place. It is very unethical that if an investigation is going on, a suspected party, in this case Prayogo and The Nin King as big debtors, allocates a large amount of money to the side that is clearly connected with the Attorney General's Office as the agency for the investigation. It would be better to use the money to start the repayment of their debt to the bank so they can alleviate their sin in causing misery to the Indonesian people.

Good ethics do not belong to businesspeople only. They should be carried out by government officials, doctors, military officers, lawyers, notaries, artists, etc. High integrity, too, should be part of every good citizen.

I remember the time when I worked with a foreign oil company in Jakarta belonging to the EXXON Corp. group. They obliged the management, including key position holders who were often in contact with outside parties like suppliers, the government, etc., to sign a statement of obedience to the regulation of business ethics and conflicts of interest. The statement also said, "Although the law may not find fault with a certain case, but if the case is in contradiction with your conscience, you do not do it."

In other words, integrity coming from your conscience is not limited to the law! Do we still have it?

SUSANTO JOSEPH

Jakarta