Law on corruption allows crime to flourish: Experts
JAKARTA (JP): Legal experts have renewed the call for an amendment to the Anti-Corruption Law, which is considered obsolete and gives room for the crime to flourish.
Frans Hendra Winarta, a member of the National Law Commission, and Albert Hasibuan from the Movement of Concerned Citizens on State Assets have suggested a shift of the burden of proof so that suspects would have to prove they were not guilty.
The current Law No.31/1999 on corruption requires prosecutors to prove that a suspect is guilty.
"This point makes the Anti-Corruption Law powerless," Winarta told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
Hasibuan said that such a law should replace the principle of "the presumption of innocence" in the investigation with the "presumption of guilt".
"This current principle often hinders an investigation by state prosecutors since it is difficult to prove corruption, while there are so many cases to be handled," he said in a separate interview.
The call for such an amendment is not new. It has been repeatedly suggested over the years, but there has been no response from either legislators or the government.
Ferry Mursyidan Baldan from the House of Representatives Commission II for legal affairs said later on Saturday that legislators were looking into what hampered investigations into corruption and the prosecution of suspects.
He said that the legislators were concerned about the stagnancy of the investigation of corruption cases, and trying to discover the problems by holding hearings with institutions such as the Attorney General's Office and the police.
The problems is not only about the obsolete law, but also in the prosecutors, he said.
"We want to mend both the investigators and the law to prevent corruption in the future and to ensure the handling of past cases," he said.
The last hearing between the House and prosecutors was in November 2000.
Dozens of corruption cases are currently being handled at the Attorney General's Office, including the case involving former president Soeharto who was charged with swindling some US$571 million in state funds amassed through his charities.
The prosecutors took about 10 months since November 1999 to prosecute Soeharto and to bring the case before a trial. But the Central Jakarta District Court dismissed the case in September 2000 due to Soeharto's ill health. The case is now being reviewed by the Supreme Court.
Hasibuan and Winarta also blamed the lack of political will on the part of the government and legislators to combat corruption, which further worsens the Attorney General's Office performance in carrying out its tasks.
Hasibuan said that President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid should affirm his commitment to eradicate corruption through a political statement and work together with the people to equate opinions and take measures to eliminate the corruption.
"But it's become more difficult since there are allegations that Gus Dur is also involved in several corruption cases ... that's why the government and the Attorney General's Office are unable to do their best," he said.
Winarta said neither the government nor legislators cared about the law-making process as they spent their energy vying for power.
"This condition has worsened the situation and paved the way for corruption ... If we fail to make a change it could be a catastrophe for the country," he said. (bby)