Prosecutors probe corruption in regional legislature
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta
The credibility of regional legislative councils could dip to a new low with the Attorney General's Office announcing it is investigating 200 corruption cases involving losses of trillions of rupiah that could implicate councillors throughout the country.
The office announced on Wednesday state prosecutors had found evidence linking thousands of councillors to graft cases in almost every province, regency and city across the country, with each case potentially causing between Rp 1 billion (US$111,000) and Rp 20 billion in state losses.
Office spokesman Kemas Yahya Rahman said several cases had been brought to trial, including those involving billions of rupiah in West Sumatra and Cirebon, West Java, while most others were still under investigation.
"We are now ready to bring several more cases involving councillors in Yogyakarta and South Sumatra, among others, to court in the coming weeks," Kemas told The Jakarta Post.
He said most of the cases centered on councillors' collective misappropriation of the council budget or their conspiring with local administrations to mark up construction projects and equipment purchases.
Several cases that have been uncovered in Aceh, West Sumatra, Garut, Cirebon and Batam were similar in how the councillors allegedly embezzled state money.
In a spectacular example of corruption in a legislative body, the Padang District Court in West Sumatra sentenced 43 of 55 provincial councillors to up to two years and three months in prison on May 17 for embezzling Rp 6.4 billion from the 2002 provincial budget. Seven councillors belonging to the Indonesian Military/National Police faction are being court-martialled for the same case.
Prosecutors in Cirebon, West Java, have named all 30 members of the local legislative council as suspects in a graft case, while prosecutors in Bandar Lampung brought charges against several city councillors last week.
Kemas said the councillors faced a maximum punishment of life imprisonment and a maximum fine of Rp 1 billion if convicted of graft.
The coordinator of the Indonesian Corruption Watch, Teten Masduki, praised the Attorney General's Office for its investigations, saying this showed progress because previously most corruption cases were buried by prosecutors' offices.
"This is good news for the corruption eradication movement in Indonesia. But we should see whether they can bring these cases to court or not," he told the Post.
He said regional autonomy laws gave the regions greater power to handle their own budgets, but this new power was not accompanied by adequate controls.