Wealth audit

Wealth audit
commission to
be trained how
to investigate

JAKARTA (JP): The Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission
(KPKPN) will soon collaborate with the Attorney General's Office
(AGO) and the National Police for the provision of training on
conducting investigations.

Chairman of the audit commission Jusuf Syakir said on Tuesday
that based on the collaborative venture, commission officers
would receive training on how to question suspects and prepare
the dossiers required for further investigation of corrupt civil
servants suspected of corruption.

Jusuf admitted that such training was badly needed as he and
his fellow commission members possessed inadequate skills in
preparing case files.

This collaboration is expected to help speed up the
investigation process, he said.

"During the first stage, the commission members will receive
help from the Attorney General's Office for the investigation of
any state officials suspected of being involved in corruption,"
Jusuf told a press conference after meeting with Attorney General
M.A. Rachman.

"Should the commission find any indications of corruption,
these will be submitted to the Attorney General's Office and the
police for further legal processing," he said.

Rachman visited the commission's offices on Tuesday to
finalize the collaboration agreement between the two
institutions. As a result, a memorandum of understanding will
soon be signed by representatives of the commission, the Attorney
General's Office and the police.

"We need a uniformity of perception as between the three
agencies so as to enable the commission's findings to be followed
up on," said Jusuf, a politician with the United Development
Party (PPP).

Rachman, meanwhile, said that should the commission find
indications of corruption, his office and the commission would
summon those suspected and jointly prepare their case files.

"This doesn't mean interference. No, we won't interfere in the
workings of the commission," said Rachman.

"At our meeting today we agreed to follow up on the findings
of the commission. The commission still needs to learn some
technical skills," he said.

He added that if the commission's findings involved ordinary
crimes, they would be handled by the police, while if
extraordinary crimes were involved they would be handled by the
Attorney General's Office.

Jusuf explained that next month his commission would start
summoning public officials believed to have profited from
corruption.

Meanwhile in Yogyakarta, at least 163 academics, lawyers and
activists from various anticorruption organizations here signed a
statement expressing concern over media reports about rampant
corruption.

According to the reports, many judges, prosecutors and court
clerks are believed to possess wealth amounting to billions of
rupiah, far exceeding their official salaries.

"It doesn't make any sense, especially given the fact that
many of them have long been complaining about their low
salaries," said the chairman of Yogyakarta Corruption Watch, Ari
Suseta, one of the 163 people signing the joint statement.

Others who affixed their signatures included the director of
the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH), Budi Santoso, chairman
of the Yogyakarta Legal Defense Institute (LPH) Triyandi Mulkan,
and chairman of the Yogyakarta branch of the Indonesian Bar
Association (Ikadin) Kamal Firdaus.

The statement was addressed to the People's Consultative
Assembly, the President, the House of Representatives, the
Minister of Justice and Human Rights, the Attorney General,
KPKPN, Ombudsman Commission, Indonesian Corruption Watch,
Indonesian Judicial Watch, and the mass media.

"We urge the government to take resolute action against those
believed to have acquired their wealth through corruption,
collusion and nepotism," Ari said. (08/swa)