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Hand over Gayus case to KPK: ICW

The recent “vacation” of graft suspect Gayus Tambunan to Bali is a perfect overture for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to take over the case from the National Police, activists say

Bagus BT Saragih (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, November 22, 2010

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Hand over Gayus case to KPK: ICW

T

he recent “vacation” of graft suspect Gayus Tambunan to Bali is a perfect overture for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to take over the case from the National Police, activists say.

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator Febri Diansyah said the KPK’s involvement might end the police’s sluggish probe into the case as well as its lenient treatment of suspects.

“The current situation surrounding the Gayus case is enough reason for the KPK to handle this case,” he said Sunday.

Febri added that the KPK law stipulated that the antigraft body could take over a case from other institutions if the case involved other corruption cases and many masterminds, two conditions that the Gayus case fulfills.

Gayus, a former low-ranking tax official, is on trial for bribing police detectives, prosecutors and a judge to the tune of US$2.5 million he illegally amassed from corporate taxpayers to escape graft charges.

The massive publicity his case has generated has apparently failed to curb corrupt practices in the judicial system as Gayus once again bribed prison officers to allow him out to watch an international tennis event in Bali a few weeks ago.

He bribed nine guards Rp 368 million ($41,200), leaving his cell a total of 68 times.

There is widespread speculation that Gayus’ recent trip to Bali was a favor called in by one of the “big fishes” who benefitted from his extensive tax scams.

The glacial pace of developments in the case is also raising questions about the impartiality of the police.

Investigations have revealed that Gayus amassed at least Rp 100 billion from 43 corporate taxpayers including three giant mining firms partly owned by the family of Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie.

So far, only the case related to PT Surya Alam Tunggal (not a Bakrie company) has been sent to court.

Police have even failed to prove that the company’s money went to Gayus.

Only two middle-ranking police officers have been charged despite court testimony implicating several high-ranking officers.

“The police have also frozen Gayus’ safe deposit boxes containing Rp 75 billion but strangely, they never investigated the source [of the money],” ICW official Donal Fariz said.

Police have expressed reluctance in handing over the case, saying it was not necessary.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said Sunday that police viewed calls to hand the reins to the KPK as merely a “suggestion”.

Moreover, the KPK, which spearheads the country’s anticorruption efforts, is not rushing into the fray.
Despite enough legal basis to take over the case, KPK deputy chairman Bibit Samad Rianto played down the idea of stepping in.

“The KPK is ready but the police refuse to surrender the case,” he was quoted as saying by Koran Tempo daily.

Bibit and fellow deputy chairman Chandra Hamzah were recently victorious in their fight against on-again-off-again graft allegations.

Critics expressed pessimism going forward given the KPK’s reluctance to take over the case.
Febri said the KPK’s reluctance went against the law.

“If the KPK is reluctant to take over the case, it means they’re neglecting the law. If the KPK neglects the law, it means they’re contributing to the resistance to eradicate corruption,” he said.

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