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2 Politics of corruption in
Indonesia By Bill Guerin
JAKARTA - Indonesia's politics of
corruption has always been murky, with untold
billions of dollars spirited from state coffers
into politicians' personal accounts during
strongman Suharto's 32-year tenure. But never
before have graft allegations been so politically
charged, with mounting opposition complaints that
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's
anti-corruption drive has disproportionately
netted opposition politicians.
The recent
arrest and imprisonment of Widjanakaro Puspoyo,
chairman of the National Logistic Agency (Bulog),
on corruption
charges dating back to 2001
and 2003 has set in motion opposition
recriminations of a political witch-hunt. Puspoyo
is a card-carrying member of the main opposition
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P),
established by former president Megawati
Sukarnoputri.
The day after Puspoyo was
charged, he was replaced in his post by Mustafa
Abu Bakar, a former governor of Aceh province and
a prominent member of the military-linked Golkar
party, which under Suharto ruled the country with
an iron fist and is now strongly represented
inside Yudhoyono's ruling coalition by Vice
President Jusuf Kalla, Golkar's chairman. Kalla
was reportedly instrumental in Abu Bakar's
uncharacteristically speedy appointment.
Growing opposition complaints of
discriminatory justice have been aimed at the
Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), a
government-sanctioned independent body established
in 2003 and headed by former police general
Taufiequrachman Ruki. PDI-P secretary general
Pramono Anung has come out most forcefully against
the anti-corruption body, which he believes is
doing the government's bidding in undermining his
party's reputation before what are expected to be
hotly contested general elections in 2009.
The quasi-independent KPK has wide-ranging
powers to name corruption suspects, make arrests,
and summon anyone to testify, including
political-office holders and high-ranking
officials. The investigative body can also request
that the president suspend officials to facilitate
prosecution and gain access to suspects' bank
accounts. It also has the authority to take over
cases from both the police and the prosecution
service.
KPK deputy chairman Erry Riyana
Hardjapamekas has denied any discrimination in the
body's workings, saying that the anti-graft body
would investigate anyone if it had solid evidence
of wrongdoing. One particular bone of contention
is an apparent two-tier system of detention for
suspects fingered by the KPK and those accused by
the Attorney General's Office (AGO).
Suspects tried by the special anti-graft
court, created specifically to hear cases handed
up by the KPK, are frequently detained while on
trial. Cases brought by state prosecutors through
the AGO, in contrast, allow suspects to go free
until proved guilty. The PDI-P claims that by
detaining politicians while they still stand
trial, the KPK has abused its authority and is
unfairly eroding the party's credibility with
voters. They point in particular to the case of
Suwarna Abdul Fatah, a PDI-P politician and the
governor of East Kalimantan.
In January,
Fatah and a clutch of senior Forestry Ministry
officials were detained by the KPK on charges of
corruption and abuse of power for allegedly
illegally granting PT Surya Dumai a
land-concession permit to clear more than a
million hectares of state land for an oil-palm
project. The company logged some 700,000 cubic
meters of forest land, causing the state losses of
up to Rp386 billion (US$42 million). Yudhoyono
personally suspended Fatah while he was under
investigation. Last week the anti-corruption court
sentenced him to 18 months in prison.
The
opposition claims that his treatment represents a
double standard. They note by comparison that
Golkar politician Ali Mazi was recently indicted
by the AGO over a land-permit scam involving the
former Hilton Hotel but has not been detained upon
receiving the charges. Similarly, they note, the
South Jakarta District Court released Golkar
politician Nurdin Halid, who was charged with
misappropriating funds at Bulog, while his case
was pending.
Meanwhile, Rokhmin Dahuri, a
former maritime and fisheries minister under
Megawati, is in detention at police headquarters
in Jakarta after being interrogated by the KPK
over the alleged collection of Rp15 billion ($1.6
million) as levies for his personal use from the
ministry's regional offices.
Dahuri is the
third senior Megawati minister and PDI-P member to
face a KPK-led graft probe. Said Agil Al Munawar,
religious affairs minister from 1999 to 2004, was
sentenced to five years in prison in February 2006
for embezzling money earmarked for the annual
hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia, resulting
in alleged losses of Rp709 billion ($80 million)
to the state.
Outside the courtroom,
Munawar said his jail sentence was politically
motivated and aimed at winning Yudhoyono's
government praise for its war on corruption at the
opposition's expense. State prosecutors had asked
for a 20-year jail sentence, and an appeals court
has since added two more years. Munawar
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