FM vows not to protect guilty officials

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa has embraced calls for an investigation by the Attorney General’s Office into ministry officials implicated in embezzlement.

The scandal revolves around allegations that officials marked up airline ticket prices in their expense claims.

“I won’t burn the whole ministry down just to cover for a handful of officials,” Marty said Friday during a visit to The Jakarta Post.

“We have to consider the innocent officials who likely have no idea what’s going on.”

He stressed the administrative punishments meted out to the suspected officials would not stop a criminal probe being launched.

The minister also said he had a “moral compass” in deciding what should be done in the case.

He denied recent media reports suggesting he had circumvented a possible AGO investigation by disclosing the case to the investigators and handing down only administrative punishment.

“We admit there have been irregularities and corruption,” Marty said. “What else can you call such practices? I’ve punished the perpetrators accordingly, firing some and demoting others.”