I

t doesn’t take much brain matter to figure out that the Nazaruddin case has put Indonesia’s integrity on trial.

What happens now will demonstrate to Indonesians and to the world whether Indonesia is serious about eradicating corruption and whether it has the legal system to deal with it or whether it is so morally rotten that it is incapable of doing the good because it has no intention of doing so because it doesn’t know what “doing the good” means — and because those in power and in the police and judiciary are robber barons who all other Indonesians and justice in contempt.

My bet is for the latter. Why? Because that is the way things are done here. The political system is wired for corruption because no one has the brains to work out a way that can deal realistically with vote buying. And so, unable to function in any way that is not corrupt, I expect they will brazen it out, lie through their teeth, pay people off and silence others. That’s the pitiful state of politics and the law when it is in the hands of people morally and intellectually unworthy of the task.

Look at the facts to date:

Nazaruddin went to Singapore, legally, to seek medical attention. The first fact is correct, and so was the second, or so we were told, but was it? Was he sick? It’s a simple question deserving a simple answer — yes or no. But no one will tell us. So, just as this case begans with evasions of the truth and the facts, so will it continue to do so.

He then skipped around the world and not a lot of effort was initially put into finding him and hauling him back to Jakarta until his revelations became so potentially damaging that something needed to be done. Here was an extremely dangerous whistle-blower potentially capable of hurting a lot of peoples’ reputations, careers and livelihoods. Such things have happened before in Indonesia — in fact they happen fairly frequently. And so what happens in the wake of the revelations? Ultimately, nothing — except those fingered get away with it.

Gayus Tambunan fingered a number of companies for evading taxes. What has happened to them? How many have been investigated and prosecuted? Virtually none. Why?

Susno dobbed in his police mates. The result? A token job was done on a couple of lesser mortals but the Big Boys said to be at the heart of it were never revealed or anything done to investigate them. Why?

Now we have Nazzarudin. The KPK says he has a case to answer in connection with millions of dollars of state funds being used illegally and misappropriated. He has accused others of being involved with him. They deny it. What is going to happen? Not much.

There will be a show trial and a continuing media frenzy manipulated to fudge the facts and keep things convoluted and hazy with the aid of a legal and judicial system deal for burying or ignoring evidence. There will be a lot of hot air and posturing and pompous waffle on the part of embarrassingly arrogant and self-righteous politicians and the elite who couldn’t lie straight in bed if they tried. And eventually the guilty, or most of them, will get away with it.

Phillip Turnbull
Tangerang, Banten