Local prosecutors given authority to handle graft

Local prosecutors given authority to handle graft

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Provincial prosecutors across the country and five prosecutors'
offices in Jakarta received on Monday a special privilege: the
full autonomy to probe into corruption cases formerly handled
exclusively by the Attorney General's Office.

There will be an exception, however, regarding corruption
cases involving "national figures, many victims and two or more
provinces".

Graft, which is categorized as a special crime, was previously
the sole jurisdiction of high-ranking officials in Jakarta.

The new decentralization policy was announced on Monday by
Attorney General M.A. Rachman during a media conference on the
eve of his office's 43rd anniversary.

"Don't be under the impression that the authority (to handle
corruption cases) is in the hands of the Attorney General only,"
said Rachman.

He said the policy was drawn due to the increasing number of
corruption cases in the country that his office alone could not
accommodate.

From January 2002 to May 2003, the office probed 746
corruption cases, including 22 involving the Bank Indonesia
liquidity support (BLBI).

The office has uncovered many other BLBI embezzlement cases,
but it has turned out to be a humiliation, as no convicts from
the cases have served their jail sentences so far.

The commitment of the Attorney General's Office in eradicating
corruption has been widely questioned, even after the reform
movement. Some have even accused the office of being corrupt.

Rachman said each provincial prosecutor would be permitted to
issue indictments or to recommend sentences for defendants
without consulting Jakarta.

A number of high-ranking officials with Rachman's office
previously had the full authority to dictate to prosecutors
across the country on indictments or sentence recommendations
against corruption suspects, regardless of their lack of
knowledge about the cases.

Legal observers have blamed the office's failure to jail
particularly wealthy and powerful corrupters, let alone to
reclaim the stolen money for the state under the centralized
policy.

The old policy caused a delay in legal proceedings -- a
corruption case may take more than a year at court -- and opened
doors for possible foul play between prosecutors and corruptors,
critics said.

In past cases, prosecutors had recommended the court to
sentence high-profile graft defendants to only six months for
embezzling billions of rupiah in state funds, and some had even
requested the suspects' acquittal.

Rachman himself is not clear of suspicion, as he was reported
to police by the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN)
for allegedly submitting a falsified wealth report. His case has
yet to be opened by the police, pending permission from the
President.

Antasari Azhar, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office,
said that provincial prosecutors would also be allowed
communicate to the public the cases they were handling in order
to guarantee transparency of legal proceedings.

The office had previously banned prosecutors from talking to
journalists directly about an open case.

Soewarsono, deputy attorney general for administration, said
the office would also provide training for prosecutors in a bid
to develop their "competence and mental process".

"Currently, we preparing 400 prosecutor candidates across the
country for the training program. They must learn from their
supervisors about prosecuting before joining the program," he
said.

The candidates are expected to learn how to investigate a
case, draft legal arguments for indictments and defend their
arguments.

There have been accusations that prosecutors were incapable of
issuing indictments or defending their legal arguments in court,
which resulted in a series of failures in bringing suspects of
big corruption cases and other crimes to justice.

Soewarsono added that the office also planned to boost
religious classes for prosecutors "to develop good mental
processes".