Despite pledges, no E. Java graft cases get to court

Indra Harsaputra ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Surabaya   |  Mon, 10/13/2008 11:38 AM  |  East Java

Though both the police and prosecutors have been declaring their fierce competition in the fight against corruption in the province, so far no cases have been brought to court from either investigative channel.

The provincial prosecutor's office pledged it would bring to court in the next three months all graft cases it has been investigating. Meanwhile the provincial police have suspended many corruption investigations due to the ongoing reshuffle of a number of key positions in the province.

Chief prosecutor Zulkarnaen said here on Friday his office would speed up its four graft investigations: the Rp 2,2 billion (US$ 225,000) outlay for a CT scanner for Gresik General Hospital, the Rp 56 billion involving PIA Jemundo, the Rp 947 million outlay for the lift and escalator procurement at the Pasar Turi rehabilitation project and the Rp 6 billion Bojonegoro affair.

Zulkarnaen said he had ordered all prosecutors to work harder to wrap up without exception their many investigations within the next three months. "The deadline has been set for prosecutors to complete their investigations by the end of this year. We're trying to reduce opportunities for abuse of power and bribe-taking during these investigations."

He also said prosecutors who failed to meet the deadline would be assigned minor cases as disincentives and those found abusing their power would be subject to harsh sanctions.

He called on the public, especially print and electronic media, to closely supervise ongoing major graft investigations.

Assistant to the chief prosecutor for intelligence, A.F. Darmawan, said he was concentrating on investigating several former officials in Bojonegoro, including former regent Santoso, for the alleged embezzlement of Rp 6 billion in regency funds during their tenure from 2002 to 2007.

He, however, said his side would not prematurely declare the former regent a suspect before conducting an in-depth study of the matter.

For their part, the police are still investigating three graft cases involving the disappearance of 97.8 billion in Situbondo, Rp 720 million in Surabaya and Rp 40 billion in Banyuwangi.

In Situbondo, eight people, including two former local officials, have been detained as suspects while the regent Ismunarso -- who approved the investment of some of the regency's 2008 funds in a coal-trading firm in Jakarta. for which he received fees from a private trading company -- has evaded suspicion.

The chief detective within the provincial police, Sr. Comr. Edy Supriyadi, said the police declined to explain why the regent had not been detained despite the evidence implicating him.

"I myself do not understand the case. I have to study it first before resuming the investigation."

Edy was appointed as new chief detective two weeks ago to replace Sr. Comr. Rusli Nasution who was promoted as chief of police in Malang.

Head of the corruption crimes section within the provincial police, Adj. Sr. Comr. I Nyoman Komin, who is expected to change job descriptions himself shortly, said the corruption investigations had been suspended for the time being due to the internal reshuffle of a number of police officials at the provincial level.

I Wayan Titib Sulaksana, a legal expert at Airlangga University in Surabaya, slammed law enforcement for trying to buy time in their investigations into the widespread corruption in the province.

he said the slow pace has given law enforcement ample opportunity to unethically negotiate the cases with suspects and prospective suspects.

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