The corruptors just don't realize the severe damage they are doing

Patrick Guntensperger, Jakarta

It is, of course, both gratifying and encouraging to see some tough jail sentences imposed upon a few recently convicted criminals. The two former BRI branch heads who were convicted of embezzling over Rp 200 billion, much of which was public money, have been given sizable fines, an order to repay some of the stolen funds and a total of 24 years in prison between them. The punishments seem apt given the depth of the perfidy required of people in positions of trust to steal that much money from the people of a desperately poor country.

Of course their lawyers say they will appeal. Their clients naturally don't want to spend any time behind bars and they sure dont want to return any of the money they stole. Nobody is denying that these thieves committed the crimes they were convicted of; that they actually were responsible for the theft of such vast amounts of the peoples' desperately needed money is beyond question. But appeal, they will.

"The masterminds behind all of this were Yudi Kartolo and Hartono Tjahjadjaja. My client was used by Yudi. My client did not receive the money," the lawyer said (The Jakarta Post June 29, 2004). Based on that questionable assertion, the thieves apparently feel that they should be treated more leniently by the people whom they willingly impoverished in an attempt to enrich themselves beyond the wildest dreams of avarice of the average Indonesian.

Any moral person must feel sickened at that contemptible rationalization. Let us pretend for a moment that we accept these dubious assertions at face value. Are we supposed to feel sympathy for the human scum that willingly participated in a conspiracy to make themselves obscenely wealthy, at the expense of those who earned their money honestly, simply because they didn't get their cut?

Are we being asked to believe that men of their status, at their level of seniority and with their experience were led astray by some fast talking con artists? If the answer is yes, we have to laugh at them for their gullibility as well as despise them for their theft.

If the answer is no, we have to hold them in utter contempt for their lies and their betrayal of trust. But, either way, as sure as hell exists for their likes, we don't have to give them lighter sentences.

But, I can already hear the apologists crying, embezzlement and corruption in high places is a way of life in Indonesia; what they did is what most high ranking officials in positions of trust do every day. Indeed. It is for precisely that reason that any appeal of the sentences should be rejected outright.

Because corruption is so endemic, it needs to be dealt with extraordinarily harshly. The kind of venality that is represented by these worthless dregs of humanity is what is holding this country back from taking her rightful place among the truly mature nations of the developed world.

Their personal greed and their contempt for Indonesia and Indonesians doesn't just destroy the lives of those from whom they directly stole, it has a very real impact on the lives of everybody in this country.

Because of them and other thieves like them, this country suffers under a well deserved reputation as one of the most corrupt places on Earth. Because of them and their fellow bandits, honest businesses and corporations used to dealing with people of integrity shun Indonesia as a pariah among nations. Because of those bottom feeders, the Indonesian economy has run into a stone wall in its road to recovery.

The desperate, grinding poverty that affects such an enormous number of Indonesians can be directly attributed to the actions of these outlaws who will now plead for clemency because they claim that their co-conspirators didn't pay them their share of the proceeds of their theft.

What is so disconcerting about the results of the trial is not the outcome; the convictions and sentences are refreshingly appropriate. The appalling fact is that the criminals themselves just don't seem to get it.

They have been caught doing something completely reprehensible, they have stolen from those who placed them in positions of trust, they have caused untold harm to countless people and they have treated their employers, their clients and their fellow Indonesians with utter contempt in a sordid racket to make themselves wealthy. And yet they still seem to feel as though they are entitled to our sympathy.

The writer, social and political commentator, can be reached at ttpguntensperger@hotmail.com