Prosecutors admit failure in pursuing graft cases

Prosecutors admit failure in pursuing graft cases

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

The head of the North Sumatra Prosecutor's Office, Chairuman
Harahap, admitted on Saturday that the sluggish investigation
into graft cases in the province had been partly caused by the
inability of his prosecutors to handle corruption cases.

Chairuman said most prosecutors were not equipped with enough
knowledge and skills to handle corruption cases, which often were
highly complex.

He disclosed that 175 graft cases remained unsolved. Of that
number, 93 cases were in process of preliminary investigation, 46
cases were at an advanced stage of investigation, and 36 cases
were already being prosecuted.

According to data from the Medan Legal Aid Institute (LBH
Medan), the unsolved graft cases included corruption in
irrigation and road reconstruction projects worth Rp 138 billion
(US$14 million), and non-performing loans from the North Sumatra
Development Bank worth Rp 100 billion ($10 million).

LBH Medan director Irham Buana Nasution said that only 5
percent of those graft cases had been brought to court for trial.

"This is below the people's expectations. We want the
prosecutor's office to solve those cases," Irham added.

To improve the prosecutors' capabilities, Chairuman said his
office was specially training about 100 state prosecutors to
handle corruption cases.

The first training course, involving 50 prosecutors, ended
Saturday night, and the training for the second batch of 50
prosecutors would commence soon, he said.

"This is designed to give the state prosecutors technical
knowledge on how to handle corruption cases. We hope the unsolved
cases can be resolved," Chairuman told The Jakarta Post on
Saturday.

LBH Medan's Irham hailed the training, adding that the
prosecutors must soon take action to solve corruption cases.

"The people have been waiting for the prosecutor's office to
do its work and solve these graft cases," he added.