M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government on Monday officially disbanded the Anti-Corruption Investigation Team, praising the team for its prosecution of graft cases over the past two years.
Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, who chaired the interdepartmental team, said outstanding cases would be transferred to relevant agencies -- the National Police, the Attorney General's Office or the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP).
""We hope these three institutions will follow in the footsteps of my team in bringing about effective and efficient investigations and prosecutions,"" Hendarman said after presenting a report on the team's two-year term to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the Bina Graha presidential office in Jakarta.
The team was established by a presidential decree on May 4, 2005, and its term ended on May 2 this year.
It was set up by Yudhoyono as part of efforts to speed up his anti-graft campaign, which was a main pillar of his campaign platform.
Team members came from the police and the BPKP.
Hendarman said in its two years of existence, the anti-graft team recovered Rp 3.95 trillion (about US$430 million) in state assets from corruption suspects.
Over the last two years, he said, the team handled 72 cases. Verdicts have been delivered and executed in seven of these cases.
Most of the cases involved state-owned enterprises under the State Ministry for State Enterprises and the State Secretariat.
During its two-year term, the team spent Rp 25 billion of its Rp 41 billion operational budget.
Though some critics have pointed to its lackluster performance, Yudhoyono lauded the team as an example of the effective prosecution of corruption suspects.
""The President has voiced his appreciation for the team's work. He is grateful for the work and expects that former members of the team can pursue anti-graft campaigns in their respective agencies based on the experience they got on the team,"" presidential spokesman Andi Alfian Mallarangeng told reporters.
Andi said Yudhoyono had no plan to set up a new anti-graft team, and would leave the anti-corruption campaign in the hands of existing agencies such as the police, the Attorney General's Office and the Corruption Eradication Commission.
In its two years of existence, the anti-graft team also served as a training ground for future leaders of law enforcement agencies.
After two years at the helm of the team, Hendarman was recently appointed as the new attorney general, replacing Abdul Rahman Saleh.
The team handled a number of high-profile cases, including graft allegations against former State Logistics Agency (Bulog) chairman Widjanarko Puspoyo and a former director of state-owned workers insurance company PT Jamsostek, Ahmad Junaidi.
The Supreme Court recently handed down an eight-year jail term to the former Jamsostek director.
The last case handled by the team involved the director of the East Kalimantan Fertilizer Company (Pupuk Kaltim). The South Jakarta District Court acquitted the suspect.
Other cases handled by the team involved state airport operator PT Angkasa Pura, state telecommunications company PT Telkom, port operator PT Pelindo and state insurance company Asuransi Jiwasraya.
