Prosecute corrupters or face sanction: SBY
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Days after announcing that he would personally lead the campaign against corruption, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered the Attorney General's Office and the National Police on Tuesday to prosecute suspected corrupters or face punishment.
"I want all cases that need to be prosecuted further to be completed and the suspects brought to court as soon as possible. The public and mass media are watching us in the first 100 days," said Susilo during a visit to the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the National Police Headquarters.
He was accompanied by State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Cabinet Secretary Sudi Silalahi, Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin and State Minister of Communications and Information Sofyan A. Djalil.
Susilo, who took the oath of office on Oct. 20, has made corruption eradication a priority of his government in the first 100 days. He said in his inaugural speech that he would personally lead the country's anticorruption campaign.
As part of his efforts to create a clean government, Susilo, a retired four-star Army general, also asked members of his Cabinet to sign a contract pledging to work hard and honestly. Violation of the contract will be dealt with accordingly, including dismissal from respective posts.
In its latest report issued last Wednesday, the day Susilo and Vice President Jusuf Kalla took their oaths of office, the Berlin-based Transparency International placed Indonesia as world's fifth most corrupt country, with a corruption index of 2, with the highest, least corrupt score being 10.
Susilo told law enforcers that he would closely monitor and examine every achievement and all progress the two institutions made in investigating and prosecuting corruption cases.
He said he would soon ask Attorney General Abdul Rachman Saleh to explain the status of some corruption cases.
"He will explain the status of big graft cases and how many of them have been completed and not completed, as well as why the cases are still with the office and what they plan to do about the cases," said Susilo.
He cited the case of Adrian Waworuntu, who allegedly embezzled state money in the Rp 1.7 trillion (US$185 billion) Bank Negara Indonesia scandal, as an example of cases that had attracted public attention and thus should be brought to court as soon as possible.
The AGO and police have often been accused of incompetence in dealing with corruption cases, since many suspects brought to court have either been acquitted or given light sentences due to weak indictments.
The AGO, for example, has halted investigations into many high profile cases, including alleged corruption by Regional Representative Council (DPD) chairman Ginandjar Kartasasmita and the multi-trillion rupiah Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) funds abuses.
The police, on the other hand, have had little success in resolving high-profile corruption and banking cases in the country, including the Rp 20.9 trillion Account No. 502 case and the Rp 900 billion State Logistics Agency (Bulog) scam.
Some unresolved cases handled by police
No. Cases Potential state losses Status
1. Account No. 502 Rp 20.9 trillion *Under police
investigation
*No suspects
declared
2. Bulog scam Rp 841 billion *All suspects
released
*Case file
rejected
3. BRI pension fund Rp 200 billion *No suspects
declared
*under police
investigation
4. BDB Asiatic scam Rp 1.7 trillion *Several suspects
declared
*No detentions
Some halted and unresolved cases handled by the AGO
1. Ginandjar Kartasasmita US$24.6 million *investigation
halted
2. 10 cases of BLBI funds Rp 20 trillion *investigation
halted
3. Dozens other BLBI cases Rp 100 trillion *suspects declared
*little funds
recovered
*convicts flee
4. Soeharto case $571 million *Soeharto declared
suspect
*Declared unfit
for trial