AGO urged not to interfere with KPK bribery probe

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 03/10/2008 1:20 AM  |  Headlines

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) has been warned against interfering with the investigation of a prosecutor accused of taking a bribe related to the central bank loan scandal.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is detaining AGO prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan for an investigation into his bribery case.

However, the AGO questioned Urip last Thursday for allegedly breaching the prosecutor's code of ethics in connection with the bribery case.

Legal experts said the AGO's move to question Urip could influence the ongoing investigation process at the KPK.

"I am afraid that the internal questioning could weaken the KPK's investigation results," legal expert Denny Indrayana of Gadjah Mada University told a discussion here Saturday.

He said the AGO's investigation could be considered interfering with the ongoing investigation by the anti-corruption body.

"Let the KPK finish its job investigating the bribery case, and then the AGO can start an internal probe into Urip," Denny said.

He said it was possible the AGO would find Urip not guilty of violating the prosecutor's code of ethics.

Urip was caught red-handed for receiving US$660,000 in alleged bribe money from businesswoman Artalita Suryani last week.

Artalita was reportedly connected to tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim, once a suspect in the embezzlement of Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) funds while Urip led a team of prosecutors handling the BLBI cases of Nursalim and Anthony Salim.

The arrest of Urip and Artalita came a few days after the AGO announced a halt to the investigations into both Nursalim and Salim.

Saturday's discussion also featured lawmaker Gayus Lumbuun, of the House of Representatives' legal affairs commission, and Ismet Hasan Putro, of the Civil and Professional Society, as speakers.

AGO director of investigation M. Salim, however, failed to attend the forum.

"My supervisor has not permitted me to attend any discussion yet," he said in a text message read out by a presenter at the event.

The AGO is set to question Salim and Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes Kemas Yahya about the bribery case against Urip this Monday.

Denny, Gayus and Ismet criticized the AGO for failing to resolve the BLBI scandal, and called for the KPK to immediately take over its investigation.

"The arrest of Urip shows that corruption practices are rampant among prosecutors," Denny said.

Ismet said the public was now relying on the KPK's willingness to take over the BLBI probe as it had lost trust in the AGO.

"Article 9 of the 2002 law on the KPK stipulates the commission can handle all major corruption cases," he said.

Resolving the BLBI scandal, he said, was an important part of the government's efforts to reclaim a massive amount of state money stolen by "irresponsible debtors".

"The state has suffered great losses following a sharp decrease in the value of their assets handed over to the government," Ismet said.

Salim's assets were sold for Rp 19.3 trillion, far from his debt of Rp 52.7 trillion, while Nursalim's assets were sold at Rp 4.9 trillion although the government had valued them at Rp 28.4 trillion. (ewd)

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