Bizarre remedy for corruptors

T. Sima Gunawan , Jakarta | Wed, 09/03/2008 10:43 AM | Opinion

The most recent fashion trend is not for elegant Muslim dresses, glamorous evening gowns, sexy swimming suits or batik. It is special designs for graft suspects to wear in court.

The idea to dress them up came from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in August in an effort to deter people from committing such offenses.

It is expected that as a result of wearing a special uniform, the suspects will be embarrassed and feel ashamed.

There is no dress code for defendants. But as seen on TV, they all appear neatly in their best clothes, no matter what the offense is.

Businesswoman Artalyta Suryani, who received five years of imprisonment for bribing state prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan with US$660,000, had drawn public attention with her makeup, hair-dos and stylish outfits.

A TV station interviewed Artalyta and praised her neat appearance. A blogger admitted that she admired her elegance while a friend said her sister hated her eyeliner, saying that she should hire a beautician to improve her make-up.

The way she dressed had stolen public attention, overshadowing her offense.

Maybe it has also triggered the KPK to give serious thought to the dress of corruption suspects.

The Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) had a quick response. They came to KPK with eight designs of uniforms for graft suspects.

I was disappointed to see the designs because there was nothing special about them. They reminded me of mechanics' overalls.

ICW and KPK must be more creative. To minimize cost, the uniforms must have a very simple design, without collars or pockets.

If they want the suspects to feel ashamed, the uniforms must have a special design, a little bizarre perhaps. For example, sleeveless on the left but a long sleeve on the right. And a long left trouser and a short right one.

If this is not enough, make a hole on the outfit for the belly button.

This might be as attractive as the works presented in the recent Jakarta Fashion Week and it might even beat John Galliano designs. And who knows, all of a sudden, Jakarta will be a famous fashion center like Paris, London, or Milan.

Or how about making suspected corruptors (who are mostly men) wear a tank top? It will save money because only a small amount of material will be needed.

Just imagine if former Bank Indonesia deputy governor Aulia Pohan, who is said to have played a role in the alleged embezzlement of Rp 100 billion (US$10.9 million) in BI funds, is charged with graft and then appears in public in a tank top.

There is no doubt that he and his family and maybe President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose son is married to Pohan's daughter, will feel ashamed. And other people then might think twice if they want to commit similar crimes.

People are expected to dress properly in courtroom but the term "proper" is actually relative and subjective. So it may be okay to get graft suspects to wear such outfits, especially considering the expected impacts.

Dressing up suspects will surely embarrass them, but there is actually a better way to deter people from committing corruption.

Corruptors must receive heavy sentences and they must not receive any special treatment during detention, let alone after they are convicted.

It is no secret that like other detainees or convicts who have a lot of money, corruptors can have special facilities like having a mobile phone, getting out of their cell and even walking free out of the penitentiary.

They should remain in jail and must be treated just like other prisoners.

And they should be punished with heavy sentences, including the death penalty, if necessary.

Indonesian corruptors are indeed very lucky because they receive light sentences.

The average sentence handed down by the Corruption Court is only between four and five years in jail.

This week, for example, lawmaker Saleh Djasit, a former Riau governor, got four years for embezzling Rp 4.7 billion (US$512,317) during procurement of fire engines for the province.

District court judges are more generous. It was reported that in 2005 the courts acquitted 54 defendants. In 2006 a total of 117 defendants were declared not guilty and last year the number increased to 212.

Corruption is a source of poverty. It is a very serious crime and we should go all out to fight corruption.

A legal expert proposed social work for convicted corruptors to allow them to see the hardships suffered by poor people. I suggest that corruptors are sent to the Bantar Gebang dump on the east side of Jakarta.

Convicted corruptors will mingle with thousands of scavengers who scramble for a living in a mountain of garbage. At night, they should be locked in cells specially built for them in the area, so that like the scavengers, they can smell the garbage in their dreams.

Millions of poor people have little access to clean water. So, it will be good to limit the convicts' access to clean water so that they can take a bath once in two or three days.

That way, corruptors will have a real experience of how hard it is being poor. I am 100 percent sure this will be effective to deter people from committing such crimes.

The writer is a journalist.

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