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ritics say that the government’s proposed amendments of the 2001 Anticorruption Law will reduce the legal penalties for corruption and allow some graft convicts to avoid prison.

Among the bill’s controversial articles is one that would reduce the minimum custodial sentence for corruption from four years’ imprisonment to one.

Another article stipulates that those convicted of embezzling less than Rp 25 million (US$28,000) of state funds can avoid prison if they return their ill-gotten booty.

The Indonesia Corruption Watch’s (ICW) Donal Fariz said on Sunday that the national climate did not favor leniency due to the number of officials and legislators implicated in corruption investigations.

The draft bill stipulates a minimum sentence of one year’s imprisonment for corruption convicts, down from a variable minimum sentence of one to four years’ imprisonment depending on the offense.

The bill also has an article that would penalize those who make false corruption allegations with a maximum three year prison sentence — a penalty that might deter potential whistle-blowers, according to Donal.

“People would likely think twice before reporting corruption,” Donal said.

Another critic said the bill would encourage small-scale corruption.

“Rp 25 million means a lot to some people; this will only trigger rampant small corruption,” the ICW’s Febri Diansyah said.

The draft would also scrap the article most frequently used to charge people with corruption.

Febri said the article was important; the Corruption Eradication Commission charged 42 corruptors with the article in 2010, he said.

The government said the revisions were made to ensure Indonesian law accorded with the UN’s Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), which Indonesia ratified in 2006.

“I believe the government has made a misinterpretation, believing that UNCAC acknowledges no principle of state financial loss, so the draft does not need to set about saving the state’s losses,” Febri said.

Todung Mulya Lubis from Transparency International Indonesia criticized a revision that would strip the KPK of the authority to prosecute corruption, which would effectively limit the KPK only to investigations.

Lawmakers also proposed revising the KPK Law to strip the commission of the authority to prosecute corruption.

Todung said the government and the House of Representatives should strengthen the KPK by allowing it to hire independent investigators and prosecutors.

KPK deputy chief M. Jasin said any revisions had to improve existing law and not “weaken the fight against corruption”.

Eva Kusuma Sundari, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and member of the House’s Commission III overseeing legal affairs, said despite flaws such as stipulations that would strip those convicted of corruption of their wealth, the law contained improvements.

Article 47 of the draft bill had much clearer stipulations on the reverse burden of proof, Eva said, a concept that first appeared when revising the law on money laundering in 2010.

She said the draft bill also regulated asset forfeiture, which was not included in the current law.