The reputation of the Attorney General's Office (AGO) has been severely tarnished in recent years as a result of its poor record and graft scandals. For example, one of its senior prosecutors, Urip Tri Gunawan, is now in prison, found guilty of involvement in a bribery case. The AGO is accused by anticorruption groups of holding a grudge against the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), which was responsible for prosecuting Urip. The AGO's latest effort to weaken the KPK was by lobbying the House of Representatives to strip the KPK of its prosecution rights in the Corruption Court, using a stipulation in the newly passed Corruption Court Law. The KPK, however, came up victorious and maintained its prosecution rights. What does the future hold for the AGO? What should it do to improve its image? Who is the right person to lead the institution? The Jakarta Post's Hans David Tampubolon interviewed former justice Benyamin Mangkudilaga to get his insight.
Question: What is your overall view on the current situation at the Attorney Generals' Office (AGO)?
Answer: It has been a popular belief within society that the AGO has become dominated by the commercialization of justice. Like an octopus stretching its tentacles, this culture has become widespread within the AGO, and I have to admit that completely eradicating the culture is not going to be an easy task to accomplish within just a year or two.
In your opinion, what is the first thing that needs to be done to reform the AGO?
Despite the fact people believe the AGO has been severely tarnished by corruption and unprofessional conduct, I have to say there are a lot of educated, academically capable and professional prosecutors in the institution. The problem we have is that their professionalism has been overshadowed by the heavily tarnished image of the AGO.
The first question that needs to be asked is how can we produce a corps of prosecutors who will commit themselves to maintaining their pride and respect in their profession? I am a son of a prosecutor and I am proud of my father and he is proud of his profession. Do the current prosecutors have that pride? To find that pride, that is the first step.
A number of prosecutors have said one of the main reasons for the growing culture of corruption is the issue of welfare, do you think that prosecutors' salaries need to be raised?
Welfare issues are not exclusive to prosecutors but to all law institutions, such as the police. Of course, we would expect to have cleaner and more professional prosecutors at the AGO if we raised their salary levels.
However, we must note that welfare reform will mean nothing if the prosecutors do not change their mind-set. I believe that changing their mind-set is more important. With a better attitude, they will work better and more professionally; and with better work and professionalism, they will deserve to have better pay and benefits.
It is always easier to raise salaries than to change attitudes, especially those that have been severely tarnished by the corrupt culture at the AGO, do you really believe that anyone can change their mentality?
Due to the fact that the culture of corruption has become so ingrained in the AGO, and for so long, the complete reform of the institution, especially in the context of mentality and attitude reform, would not be a one-day job.
I believe even four or five years would not be not long enough to achieve a complete reformation; I believe it could take a generation at least to reform the AGO. That is exactly why now is the right time for somebody to step in and take the responsibility, because if nobody is willing to jump, then I'm afraid that we are going to have a sad, lost generation, whose future will be bleak.
It seems it would need a very tough person to completely reform the AGO. In your opinion, what kind of person is up for the job?
For now, a candidate who comes from outside the AGO structure but has a comprehensive knowledge of the institution's internal issues and culture would be the best choice. Someone who would be accepted by the AGO's internal structure. We have had a lot of great attorney generals coming in from outside the AGO in the past. For example, people like Marzuki Darusman and Marsilam Simanjuntak. However, they were not well-accepted by the those inside the AGO and faced a lot of resistance.
Should you be offered the attorney general job, would you take it?
Many friends in the media and in nongovernmental organizations whispered to me and said I deserved to be named attorney general. I told them that I would not nominate or promote myself for the job. However, if I am to be entrusted with the role of attorney general, then as a good citizen, I must treat it as a calling from the nation.
