KPK seeks authority to probe foreign bribe payers

The country’s top antigraft body is seeking international support at an international conference in Bali to gain the authority to probe foreigners who bribe government officials.

“We need to be able to investigate foreigners bribing government officials and not just the bribe receivers,” Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Busyro Muqoddas said at a press conference during the International Conference on Foreign Bribery in International Business Transaction, which has drawn 400 participants from 55 countries and is supported by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono delivered a speech, backing the KPK bid.

A similar mechanism in the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention encourages punishing bribery in international business transactions carried out by foreign public officials based in signatory states to the convention.

Armed with such authority, the KPK would be able to probe and prosecute foreign public officials linked to bribery in business transaction with Indonesian officials. “Foreign public officials” is a term in the OECD Convention referring to both foreign state officials and foreign private actors.

In this case, bribery is conducted mainly to gain business licenses or win a project over bidding. “Or should I say a kickback,” KPK deputy chairman Mochammad Jasin said.

“For example, alleged kickbacks in the delivery of used railway coaches from Japan to Indonesia involved the Indonesian Transportation Ministry and a Japanese firm,” he said.

“If we can tackle the giver [bribe payer], it is easier to deal with the bribe taker,” Richard A. Boucher, deputy secretary-general of the OECD, said.

Indonesia has acknowledged a similar provision by ratifying the UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2006, but has failed to adopt it into law.

Boucher claimed the hardest part was “drafting the law and dealing with political and corrupt interests”.

Busyro said the KPK currently had no authority to probe such foreign actors, which hampered Indonesia’s fight against corruption as the business sector, like political parties, had transformed into a “corruption machine”.

However, he said a recent plan to amend the anticorruption law was “a good momentum to push the government to grant us the authority to probe and prosecute foreign public officials”.

He added that such efforts also need commitment from many stakeholders, including the House of Representatives.

“That is also why we invited them to the event: to talk about finding solutions to graft,” he said, adding that such international discussions brought stronger pressure that could make them more aware of their responsibilities.

The KPK would also initiate regular discussions with the House to “enlighten” legislators on the importance of tackling corruption through the legislative process, Busyro added.

House Speaker Marzuki Alie, a politician from Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party, welcomed the idea to grant the KPK such authority, saying he believed it may help eradicate corruption.