Twisted justice

Twisted justice

The probe into the Bank Bali scandal has reached a stage where it is beginning to look like the earlier case in which Teten Masduki of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) was pitted against then attorney general Andi M. Ghalib. Rather than investigating allegations that he had received millions of rupiah in bribes deposited in his bank accounts, police at that time chose to focus its inquiry on the attorney general's complaint of defamation. Though he was never formally named a suspect in the case, police declared him innocent. Teten Masduki, on the other hand, was summoned for questioning several times. It appears the case is now considered "closed" though a final verdict was never pronounced.

A similar fate is threatening PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). This firm, which the government paid highly to audit the Bank Bali scandal, is being charged with having violated the Indonesian banking secrecy law. A number of lawyers working for Golkar party functionaries who were mentioned on Monday as having received Bank Bali funds brought their complaint to the police. Through various arguments they managed to convince the police that PwC is guilty of a serious violation of the banking secrecy law.

If the police and attorneys continue to use this kind of legal logic, PwC's fate will be the same as that of ICW. Once again we will fall victim to the police's narrow perception of the law. The principle of the presumption of innocence is being used to twist our sense of justice.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta