The spat between the Head of the Criminal Investigations Branch, Comr. Gen. Susno Duaji, and the Corruption Eradication Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi / KPK) should nver have been allowed to get this far. The fact that it has highlights a complete lack of leadership at the pinnacle of Indonesian government. The president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, or SBY as he prefers, has seriously damaged his credentials as a fighter of corruption and has seriously undermined a basic tenet of his campaign platform.
By issuing an Interim Law allowing him to nominate new commissioners to the KPK without those prospective commissioners from going through the recognized standard vetting procedures makes a mockery of the successes the KPK and Indonesia have enjoyed to date in the fight against the scourge of corruption. If the president is thinking about a legacy and a spot on the world stage, then it is time he stood up on his principles and ended this repugnant abuse of power by the police.
The idea that an Interim Law is going to be used in this way is an attack on the independence of the KPK and undermines the legitimacy of the agency. It is an attack on democracy and the constitutionally guaranteed rights of citizens as envisaged in Chapter XA of the Indonesian Constitution of 1945, and it is a step backwards to the authoritarian ways of the past.
All that aside, it appears that the spat is escalating with two of the KPK commissioners being further charged with bribery. This is in addition to them being declared suspects in an abuse of authority matter last week. However, the two commissioners, Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto, are not going to sit back and allow the police to run roughshod over the law as it stands.
The legal team defending Chandra and Bibit have declared their intention to report the Head of the Criminal Investigations Branch, Comr. Gen. Susno Duaji, to the General Supervision Inspector (Inspektur Pengawasan Umum / Irwasum) at Police Headquarters. There are to be seven specific breaches of the prevailing laws and regulations that will form the bases of the report.
These include articles from Government Regulation No. 2 of 2003 (Art. 5 and 6(N), (O), and (Q)) and the Indonesian Criminal Code (Kitab Undang-undang Hukum Pidana / KUHP [Arts. 421 - 423]).
If successful in proving their case, then the KUHP articles in particular could see Duaji dishonourably discharged from the national police force.
This case is certain to get even more interesting as the KPK Defense Team is pushing hard and highlighting the fact that the police are seemingly on a fishing expedition in order to drum up any evidence that they can. Simply, the spokesperson for the KPK Defense Team, Luhut Pangaribuan, is regularly quoted as stating that the police just do not have the evidence to proceed in this matter and as a matter of course must stop the investigation.
If this is the case, and the police insist in continuing to pursue the case, then when the case does finally fall over, heads must role. There really needs to be presidential leadership on this one, and it is unfortunate to date that the president is seemingly siding with the police in their pursuit to dismantle the independent investigative authorities of the KPK.
Very sad.
Viva KPK!
13 comments:
Has the Prez returned or is Jk still minding the shop?? Maybe I am inexperienced but how often do so many legal matters coalesce in a country? Is this a sign of things to come? Of play and counterplay? or is this normal??
Or, does it tells us that the Indonesian legal system needs more time to mature??
Just some ideas to put forward....
Lawk...
Not sure when the President returns. I don't recall the itinerary.
The plays and counterplays are a normal part of the process.
Sign of things to come? Who knows, what will be, will be.
Legal systems evolve all the time in that sense. Does the Indonesian system need more time to mature? It is developing, albeit too slowly for some and too fast for others.
Rob,
Some people say that this case over shadow the flow of Rp 6.7 Billion from Bank Century which is still a mystery (?).
One thing for sure, Susno Duaji wrote a letter to Bank Century telling that a person who has US$ 18 million in the bank is eligible to withdraw the money.
Rob,
Correction : Rp 6.7 Trillion.
Sorry for any inconveniences.
Harry...
I think that the idea is that Susno Duaji is going balls to the wall (you will probably have to look this saying up) on this one because he figures that getting rid of KPK commissioners will shut down any investigation of him.
Yep, 6.7 trillion is a fair bit of cash to be injecting into a bank.
Harry.
Why didn't you name the person - Budi Sampoerna?
J...
I heard, and therefore thought, young Budi had a whole lot more than USD 18 million at stake if the bank went the liquidation route.
I heard, via Yosef Ardi, that it was $200 million.
Incidentally, a key question must be how come Police Gen. Susno Duaji had the power (authority?) to 'interfere' in Bank Indonesia procedures.
J...
Yep, Yosef Ardi stated USD 200 million. I have heard from other sources as well.
To be certain, I think only those in the know at Century and Sampoerna know for sure, and perhaps now after the audit there are a few others in the know.
The audit reports are apparently not for public consumption, but with a bit of luck a DPR member privy to the report will drop a detail or two.
budi sampurna has more than 3 trillion prior to the bailout, at the time slightly more than 2 trillion.
i've read the audit report, it has nothing to do with him.
if you have 3 trillion in a bank, you'd want your money bank.
he's also not very young Rob :)
Tree...
In USD, this is how much?
I thought the audit report was not going to be a public document. Something about banking laws :D
I am not sure that I said it was about him. I might have indicted that he would have had a lot to lose if the bank went the liquidation route.
Also, I think the concern was whether Duaji's letter was written, and if it was, is it legal.
I know he is not young. It is a turn of phrase, rather than a statement of fact regarding the man's age ;)
nope, it's not a public document, no soft copies either. the prelim report doesn't have much but it tells you where to look for the rest.
I can't say whether the letter he wrote was legal - it might be - tho if it was discovered that he had other incentives then it could land him in some trouble.
where's that post that gets this thing moderated?
Tree...
Tampoe, just search for it using the search feature :D
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