KPK wants amendment of anticorruption law
KPK wants amendment of anticorruption law
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said on Wednesday
that existing anti-graft regulations were inadequate to enable
full-fledged prosecution of corruption cases.
Speaking in a hearing with the House of Representatives
Commission III on legal and domestic affairs, KPK chairman
Taufiqurrachman Ruki demanded amendments to laws pertaining to
the anti-corruption drive, including bank secrecy laws.
Ruki said the bank secrecy law was among the formidable
stumbling blocks preventing swift prosecution of corruption
cases.
"Law No. 7/1992 concerning banking stipulates that only the
National Police, the Attorney General's Office and the Supreme
Court have the right to examine suspects' bank accounts. Such a
stipulation gives the Central Bank the authority to deny our
access to the account," Ruki said.
He said the KPK in fact did not need authorization from the
Central Bank to get access to bank accounts, as Law No. 30/2002
concerning anti-corruption states that such permission is not
required.
However, a number of additional regulations were needed to
boost the commission's work, he said.
Among the much-needed regulations is the witness protection
law.
"The absence of such a law has dissuaded witness, or those who
are knowledgeable about corruption practices, to reveal their
information," he said.
Established in late 2003, the KPK is handling, among other
high-profile cases, a corruption case involving Aceh Governor
Abdullah Puteh. The governor is expected to stand trial at the
anti-corruption court in December.
The KPK also collects wealth reports from state officials, and
regularly informs the public about these reports.
Data from the commission revealed that only 50 percent of over
41,000 public servants have submitted their wealth reports. For
members of the House and local legislative councils, only 57
percent of over 18,000 members have declared their wealth to the
commission.
The KPK's demand for the drawing up of new laws was met with a
cool response.
"Regardless of how poor the regulations are, optimum
performance can still be achieved if officials have the
determination to implement them," Panda Nababan of the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said.
Fellow legislator Gayus Lumbuun said the existing regulations
were in fact already too much for the commission.
"The KPK has the authority to take over corruption
investigations from the police or prosecutors, and this is quite
significant. What matters now is whether the commission has the
courage to start its probes," he said.