Number of corruption prosecutions jumps in W. Java

BANDUNG: Provincial prosecutors over the last nine months have handled no less than 87 corruption cases in West Java.

The deputy chief of special crimes at the provincial prosecutor's office, M. Amari revealed that most of the alleged corruption cases involved the embezzlement of funds from agricultural credit programs.

He said that 48 cases had been processed and brought to court.

"Corruption is always hard to prove because usually witnesses refuse to talk, because the prevalent culture is 'better to keep quiet then be threatened'," Amari explained.

He said the number of corruption cases has shown a significant increase, as in the whole of 1999 there were only 50 cases.

No data was given for the number of corruption cases which were handled by the provincial prosecutor's office prior to April.(25)