Antigraft activists expressed their strong disapproval of the controversial appointment of a former corruption convict to head the Maritime and Fisheries Agency in the Riau provincial administration, calling it a blow to the government’s antigraft pledge
ntigraft activists expressed their strong disapproval of the controversial appointment of a former corruption convict to head the Maritime and Fisheries Agency in the Riau provincial administration, calling it a blow to the government’s antigraft pledge.
“This sends the wrong message that corruption is no longer an extraordinary crime,” Trisakti University law expert Abdul Fickar Hadjar said during a discussion on Wednesday.
Abdul was referring to the central government’s decision to appoint Azirwan as the head of the Riau Islands agency.
In 2009, Azirwan, a former Bintan regency secretary, was sentenced to two-and-a-half-years for bribing a lawmaker. He was charged with Article 5 (1) of Law No. 31/1999 on bribery, with prosecutors seeking a four-year-jail term for him.
According to Administrative Reforms Minister Azwar Abubakar, the promotion of Azirwan did not violate Law No. 43/1999 on the principles of civil service.
Yet, Article 23 (4) of the same law regulates that a civil servant can be discharged if he or she has been jailed for committing crimes that carry a maximum penalty of four years or more.
“Therefore, the Riau Islands administration could have dismissed Azirwan from his position when prosecutors brought the charges against him. But instead he has now received a promotion,” Abdul said.
He added the Riau Islands Governor Mohamad Sani could have dismissed Azirwan he had wanted to.
Meanwhile, an official with the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) legal bureau Anatomi Muliawan said that Azirwan’s promotion contradicted the Corruption Law No. 28/1999.
“It appears that not all government institutions share the same commitment to corruption eradication,” Anatomi said.
He added that the KPK would soon coordinate with the Home Ministry and undertake efforts to stop the promotion of other graft suspects and graft convicts.
Home Ministry spokesman Reydonnyzar Moenek said that his office welcomed the KPK’s plan but warned that any type of cooperation between the two institutions should not run against existing laws.
The ministry, however, could not annul the decision to promote Azirwan, as the home affairs minister had no authority to do so, Reydonnyzar said.
“Azirwan’s promotion is indeed inappropriate and irrational. But it is legally correct,” he said.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) activist Emerson Yuntho, meanwhile, urged the central government to issue a regulation to allow the dismissal of civil servants who were involved in graft cases who had been handed down jail terms by the court.
“There is never a plausible reason to let corrupt individuals stay in their posts. Azirwan’s case can be used as a bad precedent,” Emerson said. (riz)
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