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Govt backs KPK powers, weighs minimum terms for graft convicts

The government intends to retain the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) authority, in the midst of a House of Representatives initiative to revise the 2002 Corruption Eradication Law as well as the Corruption Court Law

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Tue, November 1, 2011

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Govt backs KPK powers, weighs minimum terms for graft convicts

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he government intends to retain the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) authority, in the midst of a House of Representatives initiative to revise the 2002 Corruption Eradication Law as well as the Corruption Court Law.

“It is clear that we [the ministry] do not support any attempts which could cripple the KPK, their powers such as wiretapping should be preserved while the plan to give the KPK authority to issue letters ordering a halt to investigations (SP3)should not go ahead,” Legal and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsudin told a press conference on Monday.

He said that the ministry was considering strengthening rules to raise penalties for corruption convicts in line with public aspirations.

Mochtar Zainal Arifin, an anti-corruption observer, said that the KPK’s authority to wiretap should be retained because corruption could be categorized as an extraordinary crime that required tactical measures such as wiretapping.

He added that the SP3 authority should not be added to KPK’s authority in order to maintain the commission’s investigative qualities.

“We should not add SP3 in order to ensure KPK discretion in investigating cases,” he said.

Plans to revise the anti-corruption law have been discussed since 2008 but had been shelved. However the idea has been resurrected recently after the House and the KPK became embroiled in a political argument concerning allegations of manipulation of the state budget in the House.

Antigraft activists have criticized the revision plan, saying that the revision process had been used to hamper corruption eradication efforts.

Deputy Minister Denny Indrayana confirmed that the ministry’s position was to empower KPK and he would only endorse revisions if they were compatible with the corruption eradication agenda.

He further explained that the ministry and the KPK had agreed to cooperate in creating a revision formula of the anti-corruption laws.

“We will involve KPK all way through in the revision formulation process,” he said.

Denny said that the Constitutional Court had denied all 14 judicial review proposals on the anti-corruption law, saying that it did not conflict with the Constitution.

He added that they also considered plans on corruption court functions, whether it was most effective keeping the corruption court centralized in Jakarta, or possibly creating five corruption courts for each Jakarta district or maybe expanding it further by creating branches at regional level.

KPK chairman Busyro Muqoddas added that during the discussions, the ministry had proposed adding several provisions into the law such as five year minimum sentences for corruption case convicts.

The existing law on KPK stipulates the minimum punishment for corruption convicts as one year.

Convicts in the bribery case linked to the election of former Bank Indonesia governor Miranda Goeltom at the House of Representatives gets 15 to 20 months of jail term.

The lightest is for Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) legislator Agus Tjondro, who gets only 15 months and already being released. He was the whistle-blower in the case.

In the latest development, the House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs has postponed the deliberation of the revisions because it is currently in recess.

The lawmakers said that they would be ready to discuss the revisions with the government after two plenary-session phases, which would likely be in 2012. (rpt)

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