AGO to shed compromised prosecutors

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 06/26/2008 10:33 AM | Headlines

Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said Wednesday he will replace several prosecutors implicated in a major bribery scandal that has tarnished his office's image and credibility.

"We will announce the status of all implicated prosecutors on Thursday. Some officials will be replaced tomorrow," he told a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission III for legal affairs.

Hendarman refused to say how many officials will be affected by the shake-up in the Attorney General's Office.

"Just wait for tomorrow," he said.

He said he will announce the results of an internal investigation into several of his deputies and other senior prosecutors for their alleged connection with bribery suspect Artalyta Suryani.

Hendarman said that with the President's approval, he could replace top prosecutors in strategic positions, but added that he had to be careful in imposing harsher sanctions against them.

"As an attorney general, I can do no wrong in imposing sanctions. I need a very strong basis for handing out tough sanctions like dismissal.

"After the Corruption Court hands down its verdict for Artalyta, I can evaluate the roles of these prosecutors in this bribery case," Hendarman said.

The Attorney General's Office has been under intense scrutiny since the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested AGO prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan in early March for allegedly taking a US$660,000 bribe from businesswoman Artalyta.

The arrests of Urip and Artalyta forced the AGO to remove deputy attorney general for special crimes Kemas Yahya Rahman and director of investigations M. Salim from their positions.

Kemas and Salim were questioned internally last week by a team led by the deputy attorney general for internal affairs, MS Rahardjo, amid mounting pressure on the government to rid the AGO of corrupt officials.

Also questioned by the team was the deputy attorney general for state administration, Untung Udji Santoso, and the deputy attorney general for intelligence, Wisnu Subroto.

Artalyta's bribery trial has revealed her alleged connections with Kemas, Salim, Untung and a former official at the AGO's special crimes division, Djoko Widodo.

Djoko testified at Artalyta's trial that the businesswoman called him on March 2, a few hours before she was arrested by the KPK along with Urip.

Djoko also testified he was part of a team of AGO officials who went to Artalyta's house to arrest her when it was unclear if the anti-graft body was going to detain her.

"When we got there, there were already KPK investigators in front of the house. We stopped on a quiet corner near her house to decide what to do," Djoko said.

His testimony further damaged the credibility of the AGO, which was accused of attempting to protect Artalyta and violating the KPK law that forbids other law enforcement agencies from interfering in its investigations.

Attorney General Hendarman denied his office was protecting Artalyta.

"I received information that Urip was arrested in a bribery case, but that the person who bribed him was not arrested.

"I am fully aware of the regulation that I cannot interfere in the KPK's work. But at that time I was suspicious that there was a crime that was being covered up by the KPK. I was relieved that the KPK finally arrested Artalyta two hours later," Hendarman said.

Lawmaker Gayus Lumbuun called Hendarman's claims "illogical".

"I don't see a strong basis for the AGO's plan to arrest Artalyta at that time. The KPK did the right thing to arrest Urip because, as a state official, he cannot receive money. But how did the AGO know that Artalyta bribed Urip? She could have been extorted by Urip," Gayus said. (alf)

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