Death sentence urged for corrupt officials

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 11/23/2009 9:44 AM  |  National

Ahmad Rifai, 14, thinks government officials and members of the House of Representatives have failed to combat corruption.

“The President does not take necessary action to root out corruption among his officials, while House members are not serious about this mission,” he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

“Death sentences should be imposed against corrupt officials to uphold send a message to would be corruptors.”

Ahmad, a 3rd grade student at SMPN 220 in West Jakarta, spoke after signing a 57-meter white banner during a rally to collect one million signatures.

The rally was held by the Coalition of Civil Societies against Corruption in front of Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, Central Jakarta.

The coalition consists of 82 NGOs from all over Indonesia.

Ahmad was one of thousands of passersby, who stopped to add their signatures to the banner. Most of the passersby were students, who had just finished their morning exercise at the stadium.

Another student, Habibie, 13, from SMPN 48 in South Jakarta, said law enforcers were not effectively combating corruption.

“We cannot let rampant corruption spread throughout the country. Corrupt officials should be sentenced to death,” he said after making his mark.

“Corruption contributes to poverty, which prevents bright students from access to education,” he added
An urge for the death penalty for cases of corruption was also expressed by Diki Wahyudi, 12, from the Al Falah Islamic School in West Jakarta.

“Corrupt officials manage to get away with light sentences,” he said.

Farah, 13, thinks corrupt officials have cultivated a poor and ignorant Indonesian society.

“Schools in many regions are lagging behind and find it difficult to improve themselves.”

Farah, also from SMPN 48, emphasized the uneven distribution of school facilities and teachers across the nation. “A smart nation can be created if we can end corruption,” she said.

Director of the Indonesian Civilized Circle, Ray Rangkuti, condemned the government’s slow efforts at fighting corruption. The group is one of the NGOs supporting the “million signatures” program.

“We will bring the banner to the State Palace tomorrow to display the people’s support for corruption eradication,” he said.

He urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to follow recommendations proposed by the presidential fact-finding team.

The team recommended that Yudhoyono punish high-ranking officials in the National Police and the Attorney General’s Office for criminalizing two deputy chairmen of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Bibit Samad Riadi and Chandra M. Hamzah.

The deputies were charged with power abuse, bribery and extortion. However, Yudhoyono’s team concluded that all charges lacked strong evidence.

The team also told Yudhoyono to drop the charges against Bibit and Chandra, take action against those involved in the recorded wiretapped conversation with businessman Anggodo Widjojo and reform the National Police and the AGO.

A wiretapped conversation between the police, AGO officials and Anggodo was recently played for the public at the Constitutional Court. Anggodo allegedly gave bribes to middleman Ari Muladi, who later denied passing on the money to Bibit and Chandra. (nia)

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