Singgih denies police have right to probe graft

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Singgih denied yesterday law enforcement agencies had agreed to allow the police to investigate corruption cases.

"There's no such thing as joint investigation (of corruption by the police and my office)," Singgih told a hearing of House Commission I for security, defense, legal and information affairs.

Singgih was countering an earlier statement by Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman that a forum of law enforcers, known by its Indonesian acronym Mahkejapol, agreed last week to allow police to investigate corruption cases, a task which has been "monopolized" by the Attorney General's Office for the past 27 years.

Oetojo made his remarks after a meeting last Thursday with Chief Justice Sarwata, National Police Chief Gen. Dibyo Widodo and Singgih.

Singgih denied yesterday that the forum had discussed the question of which agency had what authority.

"The forum only discussed ways to facilitate law enforcement," Singgih said.

He said the forum does not have the authority to make legal changes or to amend existing laws as these rights should be exercised by either the President or the House of Representatives.

He said that corruption was a special crime which came under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General's Office.

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

The Jakarta Police sparked the controversy over corruption investigations last December when it launched an investigation into the graft allegations involving three former directors of Bank Indonesia, the central bank.

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

City police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang said last month that the police's authority to investigate any crime was stipulated by the Criminal Code Procedures and supported by the new National Police Law.

Singgih admitted the National Police Law says the police can probe any crime. But he said the law failed to specify whether the police also had the authority to probe graft cases.

"The current legislators should learn from this situation to avoid the same (confusion) in the future," Singgih said. (byg)