Public upbeat over graft suspect hunt

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The public has high hopes that the planned government team assigned to hunt down graft suspects residing overseas will be able to conclude its mission in a country where corruptors have long managed to easily escape justice and enjoy their ill-gotten wealth abroad, according to a top lawmaker and anticorruption activist.

Deputy chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) A.M. Fatwa, however, warned that the public's optimism could turn into outrage, if the team fails to perform its task.

"This step can be a test to assess the government's seriousness in eradicating corruption," Fatwa said in a press release issued on Friday.

"If there is a positive result, then (public) support for the current government will strengthen. If not, I'm afraid the public will become increasingly apathetic, and perceive similar actions in the future as mere lip service," said the senior politician.

Hatta was responding to a plan by the Attorney General's Office to set up a joint team to hunt down corruption suspects who have fled overseas particularly to neighboring Singapore. The eight-member team will also track down the personal assets of the corruptors to help recover state losses.

Office spokesman R.J. Soehandojo said that the team, which will include officials from the National Police, immigration office and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, would start work after the government concludes an extradition treaty with Singapore.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to fly to Singapore on Feb. 15 to discuss the long-running extradition issue with Singapore Prime Minister Lie Hsien Loong.

Fatwa acknowledged that the success of the team's mission would largely depend on whether the government could secure an extradition treaty with Singapore.

Meanwhile, Lucky Djani, deputy chairman of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), said that aside from good bilateral ties with foreign countries, the team's success would also depend on good coordination between related offices.

"From what we've seen so far, lack of coordination has always been the main problem of our government. If the team can get past that hurdle then the road to success will open wide," Lucky told The Jakarta Post.

"We will see this time whether or not the team can capture those fugitives, since it is such a huge task and cannot be accomplished in a few months but may take as long as several years," he added.

Deputy Attorney General for intelligence Basrief Arief has been chosen to head the special team, while National Police deputy chief of detectives Insp. Gen. Dadang Garnida will be his deputy.

Meanwhile, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said that the team did not have a specific target on the number of graft suspects to be brought back home to face trial, nor how many assets could be recovered.

"We'll just do our best," Da'i said.

Da'i admitted that an extradition agreement, especially with Singapore, would make the team's work easier, but even without the agreement, the team would still be able to work by asking help from a mutual legal assistance agreement (an agreement between ASEAN countries) and Interpol.

"First we have to be able to locate all those fugitives by asking help from those agencies, then we will be able to think of our next move," Da'i said.