Police given right to investigate graft cases

JAKARTA (JP): A joint informal forum of law enforcement agencies agreed yesterday to allow the police to investigate corruption cases, a task which has been "monopolized" by the Attorney General's Office for the past 27 years.

Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman said after a meeting with Chief Justice Sarwata, National Police Chief Gen. Dibyo Widodo and Attorney General Singgih that details of the agreement would be discussed further.

"Principally we have agreed that both prosecutors and police are allowed to probe corruption cases. But what exactly the authority of each party is and which party is authorized to carry out preliminary investigations into the cases will be discussed later," Oetojo told reporters after the meeting he hosted.

The 1971 anticorruption law says that the Attorney General's Office holds the sole authority to investigate corruption.

The City Police sparked controversy over its legal right to probe graft in December when officers questioned three just- dismissed directors of the central bank for alleged corruption.

At the time, Singgih was sure that the police had invaded his domain. But the police retorted that they had the legal right to act as they did.

City police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang said that the police's authority as investigators to probe any crimes was stipulated by the Criminal Code Procedures. He added that the police's right to investigate graft was also supported by the newly passed National Police Law.

When asked about the controversy, Oetojo said yesterday that both the 1971 antigraft law and the 1997 police law would be used as references.

Dibyo flatly denied that yesterday's agreement was made following the recent tug-of-war between the Attorney General's Office and the police.

"The decision was taken just to smooth the way for law enforcement," Dibyo said.

Separately, the chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, Bambang Widjojanto, criticized the agreement, saying that it lacked legal basis.

"The forum has no clear legal basis, but unfortunately its decisions must be acted on by the law enforcement agencies," he said.

Oetojo also said yesterday that in an "urgent situation", the police could ask the directorate general of immigration to delay any overseas trip of a criminal suspect.

"An urgent situation means that the suspect is feared to be leaving the country for good," Oetojo said.

He added that the police could then ask for a travel ban from Attorney General's office not later than three days after they requested the suspect's overseas trip postponement.

Separately, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar told The Jakarta Post Wednesday that the joint forum was needed to synchronize perceptions among the members on matters which related to law enforcement.

It was hoped that coordination among the forum members would generate synergy, he said.

"We use the forum to discuss many things, including our weaknesses and differences, and to work on them together to establish better coordination between us which in the end will boost our performance in upholding justice," he said.

"But, the cooperation will not in any way lessen the independence and authority of each member," Da'i said.

He said that the forum was not designed to discuss how to change the authority of any members but how to attune the way they all worked.

The spokesman also said the forum was not a legal institution and was not created to produce any legal product.

He asked people not to get suspicious of the forum. "Let's not think negatively about the forum or the members." (byg/cst)