Susilo needs new way to fight graft

M. Taufiqurrahman and Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono could make a breakthrough in its fight against corruption by shifting the burden of a proof that has been mandated by the antigraft law, a legal expert and activists said.

Legal expert Frans Hendra Winarta said the principle did not work because the administration of previous presidents lacked the determination to enact it.

"The principle has been mandated by the anticorruption law and the time is high for the new government to make it work. The new administration could apply it in cases that have raised public concern," Frans told The Jakarta Post.

According to the principle, suspected corruptors could be detained based on preliminary evidence, while the investigation into their suspected crime is underway.

However, Frans warned that the application of such a principle required great political will from the president himself.

"Some of those who are implicated in big-time corruption cases could have been individuals that contributed to Susilo's rise to power. Whether he (Susilo) has the courage to start an investigation into those people is a big question," he speculated.

Frans also said that there would be technical constraints in the application of the principle.

"The Attorney General's Office lacks either determination or resources in the drive against graft. The new Attorney General must improve them by implementing internal reforms," he said.

Prior to his inauguration, Susilo said that he would embark on a new way to prosecute corruptors.

He said that in the litigation of corruptors and fraudulent businessmen, he would appeal to the House of Representatives to give the go-ahead for the Attorney General to apply the principle.

Hours after taking the oath, Susilo reiterated his antigraft commitment and vowed that he would lead the fight against graft himself.

The Berlin-based Transparency International (TI) said in its latest report of its global corruption index that Indonesia was the world's fifth most corrupt country.

TI Indonesia's Emmy Hafild concurred with Frans, saying that Susilo had to keep those in his inner circle away from corruption, otherwise he would repeat the same mistakes made by his predecessors in the fight against graft.

Emmy said that the inner circle includes the President's family members, his Cabinet ministers and members of his Democratic Party.

She said that both former president Megawati Soekarnoputri and Abdurrahman Wahid had produced numerous laws and regulations pertaining to corruption eradication, but both failed to handle corruption cases involving their close aides.

Contacted separately, activist Bambang Widjojanto of the Partnership for Governance Reform said that given the intricacy that might result from shifting the burden of a proof to suspects, the new administration could start the anticorruption drive by handling cases that had direct relevance to the public.

"The anticorruption drive could target government agencies that provide direct services to the people such as those that deal with taxation, education, health and infrastructure," he told reporters here.

Bambang said if the government was successful in curbing corruption in public service sectors, people would rally round in support of any measures to prosecute big fish in corruption.

"Only then the government can start the drive to bring businessmen who have stolen state money and were later cleared of any legal problems," he said.