Office praised for stopping terrorists
Abdul Khalik and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri praised on Thursday the Attorney General's Office (AGO) for its success in bringing terror and drug trafficking suspects to justice over the last few years.
Before hundreds of prosecutors, who were commemorating the 44th anniversary of the institution here, the President said criticism had been directed to the office because the public was uninformed about its achievements.
"The success of prosecutors to bring terror suspects in Bali and Jakarta to court is no small achievement. While in many countries the fight against terrorism is merely rhetoric, we keep bringing terror perpetrators to justice," said Megawati.
She also complimented prosecutors for combating organized crime and seeking the maximum punishment for drug dealers in recent years.
The President acknowledged that a number of prosecutors might spoil the corps' image because of their lust for money and their incapability to perform their duty.
"Therefore, all prosecutors must keep trying to improve their knowledge, skills and professional abilities. We should pay attention to, and focus on, the technical and professional skills of prosecutors," she said.
Law expert Luhut M. Pangaribuan, however, dismissed the President's remarks, saying the performance of state prosecutors was far from satisfactory because only a few corruption and other high-profile cases had been brought to court.
"I think the Attorney General's Office and prosecutors have failed to carry out their duty as one of the three pillars of our legal system. They have instead contributed to weak law enforcement in the country," said Luhut.
The office has, so far, been unable to bring many high profile cases, such as the corruption case involving former President Soeharto, the alleged misuse of hundreds of trillions of rupiah in Bank Indonesia liquidity loans (BLBI) and many other banking scandals to court.
The office has also failed to collect necessary evidence in its probe into the alleged masterminds of a shooting incident at Trisakti University and ensuing riots in May 1998. Repeatedly, prosecutors have returned case files submitted by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), citing a lack of evidence.
Luhut said the poor record had nothing to do with the prosecutors' capability, but more their integrity.
"They fail to resolve many high-profile cases because they lack commitment to uphold the law and strong leadership," said Luhut.
He said Megawati's compliment was politically motivated as she did not want to mock her own administration's performance in law enforcement, particularly as she looks set to contest the second round of the presidential election.