KPK accused of half-hearted fight

Abdul Khalik ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 05/05/2008 11:24 AM  |  Headlines

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) remains discriminative in probing graft cases or arresting suspects, and is still politically driven, a group of experts, activists and lawmakers said Sunday.

They agreed the commission deserved praise for its move to arrest prosecutors, several lawmakers and other high-ranking officials.

The anti-corruption body, however, appeared reluctant to prosecute more powerful figures allegedly involved in major cases, they said.

Legal expert Denny Indrayana of Gajah Mada University said the KPK was still politicized, apparent in its hesitance to name or arrest figures close to power as suspects even when their alleged roles in graft cases were publicly clear.

The KPK is detaining outgoing Bank Indonesia (BI) governor Burhanuddin Abdullah, lawmaker Al Amin Nasution and prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan in separate graft cases.

"They are the big fish. Those recently arrested by the KPK are only small fish in the cases. Considering its powerful authority, it is a waste if the KPK doesn't have enough guts to prosecute their key suspects," he told The Jakarta Post.

In February the KPK arrested Burhanuddin and two other BI senior officials in the embezzlement of Rp 100 billion from the central bank. The anti-graft body also arrested last month Hamka Yamdhu and Anthony Zeidra Abidin, two Golkar Party politicians, for involvement in the same case.

Although many legal experts have suggested that former BI deputy governor Aulia Pohan, the father-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's son, was also involved, the KPK has yet to take any action against him.

Many activists also criticized the arrests of Anthony, who is now Jambi deputy governor, and active lawmaker Hamka as the KPK failed to take similar actions against 11 other lawmakers who also allegedly received money from the BI fund.

Also, they said, the KPK arrested only United Development Party lawmaker Al Amin while passing up more than 15 other legislators implicated in the same bribery case.

Emerson Yuntho of Indonesia Corruption Watch pointed to the Urip case as an example of the KPK's "half-hearted" actions.

Urip was arrested for allegedly taking a US$660,000 bribe from businesswoman Artalita Suryani, who was linked to tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim, once a suspect in a major corruption case.

The arrests of Urip and Artalita were made only two days after the Attorney General's Office dropped the investigation into the embezzlement of BI liquidity assistance (BLBI) funds, which involved Sjamsul, due to lack of evidence. Urip led 10 prosecutors in the investigation of Sjamsul's case.

"All the prosecutors handling the case and their bosses must be implicated. The KPK must not be half-hearted and avoid arresting key players. It should not be afraid as it has all the authority it needs," he said.

Both Denny and Emerson warned that the graft body would lose credibility and public support if it continued trying to cover up the roles of big-time corruptors for political reasons.

"At the end of the day, the KPK's credibility depends on whether it can prove all its cases in court and wipe away accusations that it only aims at certain politicians," said lawmaker Andreas Pareira of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

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