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2 Reversing Indonesia's
anti-corruption drive By Fabio
Scarpello
DENPASAR, Bali - Indonesia's
already faltering war against corruption risks
grinding to a total halt if a new anti-corruption
draft law now circulating in Parliament and
executive offices is finally passed.
In
its present form, the draft legislation boldly
calls for the abolition of the recently
established Corruption Court, which would in turn
render the already understaffed and underfinanced
five-member Corruption Eradication Commission
(KPK) a toothless tiger. The two independent
institutions had been widely credited
with
taking the fight to Indonesia's endemic culture of
official graft and corruption, which has resulted
in a handful of high-profile convictions.
The Corruption Court started to have
impact soon after President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono rose to power in 2004 and declared a
high-profile war on graft. According to
Transparency International, a global corruption
watchdog, Indonesia consistently ranks among the
most corrupt country in the world. That has
historically diverted substantial resources
earmarked for national development into
politicians' and officials' personal accounts.
Former president Suharto stands widely
accused of spiriting billions of dollars from the
national coffers over his 32-year tenure. A
criminal case against the former dictator,
involving US$600 million he allegedly took from
seven charitable foundations, was dropped last May
because of his declining health. While Yudhoyono's
anti-graft drive has netted certain powerful
politicians, it has notably failed to move against
Suharto's cronies and senior military officials.
If the Corruption Court is, as called for
under the draft legislation, eventually abolished,
Yudhoyono's credibility among foreign investors
will be severely dented. Independent polls have
consistently shown that endemic corruption and the
lack of a level playing field are two of the
biggest complaints among existing and potential
investors.
Denny Indrayana, representative
to Indonesian Court Monitoring, a local
non-governmental organization tracking judiciary
reform, characterizes the anti-corruption draft
law as "the counterattack of the corruptors",
because it would act to insulate and protect
politicians and state officials from being
implicated in future corruption cases.
He
notes that the draft legislation is founded on the
legal challenges made by certain powerful
officials and business people who have recently
been charged and convicted of corruption. The
anti-reform ball allegedly started rolling when
former National Elections Commission head
Nazaruddin Sjamsuddin and member Mulyana W Kusumah
were both imprisoned on corruption charges by the
Corruption Court.
Sjamsuddin, a
once-respected political scientist, was sentenced
to seven years in prison in December 2005 on
charges he had received kickbacks from an
insurance firm that won a contract related to the
holding of a certain election. In their defense,
both former officials argued that the Corruption
Court lacked legal legitimacy and requested a
high-level judicial review.
The
Constitutional Court last December in effect
agreed with their legal argument and ruled that
the creation of the Corruption Court under the KPK
law was unconstitutional. In its controversial
decision, the court ruled that the Corruption
Court had created a "dualism in the judicial
system and an absence of legal certainty, because
suspects tried in two different courts could
receive different treatment".
It also
ordered that the Corruption Court be disbanded
within three years unless the House of
Representatives enacted a new law mandating its
existence. The Justice Ministry then appointed
Andi Hamzah, a former Tri Sakti University
professor, to lead a team of experts to draft the
enabling legislation. However, rather than
authorizing the existence of the Corruption Court,
as seemingly suggested by the Constitutional
Court, the new anti-corruption draft law has
instead paved the way for its demise.
Article 53 of the relevant law stated that
the Corruption Court was established expressly to
try corruption cases investigated by the KPK. The
corruption cases handled by the Attorney General's
Office, on the other hand, are taken to
Administrative Court. Data compiled by Indonesia
Corruption Watch (ICW), a local anti-corruption
watchdog, indicate that the Corruption Court has
in its short existence consistently performed
better than the Administrative Court.
Strong track record According to
ICW, of the 125 corruption cases heard last year
at the Administrative Court, 40 of the defendants
were released without sanction, and of those
convicted, most received light sentences. That is,
37 people were jailed for less than two years, 32
for periods ranging between two and five years,
and only 16 convicts received jail terms of more
than five years.
In comparison, not one of
the suspects charged in the 32 cases
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