T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has expressed its readiness to cooperate with Australian law enforcers in connection to a recently leaked court injunction issued by an Australian court.

KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto said the commission would act if the Australian government provided information about the alleged multinational graft case that resulted in a local media report implicating President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his predecessor, Megawati Soekarnoputri.

'€œThe allegation of multimillion dollar graft in the printing of Indonesian banknotes is truly hurtful. However, the KPK only has one option, and that is to respond to any information that the Australian government decides to share,'€ Bambang stated in a brief message on Friday.

Bambang explained that the KPK would investigate any information it received before deciding on appropriate legal action.

He also said that the commission had ties with the Australian Federal Police and could possibly forge cooperation in the law enforcement sector, including in the exchange of data in relation to corruption cases.

Renowned whistle-blower Wikileaks recently released a document possibly linking Yudhoyono and Megawati to graft in the printing of Indonesian banknotes in Australia in 1999.

The two public figures '€” along with Laksamana Sukardi, a politician from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and former state-owned enterprises minister '€” are among 17 individuals listed in an injunction issued by the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne.

Yudhoyono denied any role in the case and asked Australian authorities to be transparent in the legal proceedings on the case.

PDI-P politicians have also denied Megawati'€™s involvement in the case.

Dated June 19, the court injunction explicitly forbids the naming of 17 individuals in connection to court proceedings involving an alleged multimillion dollar bribery case.

The injunction, effective throughout Australia for a maximum of five years, prohibits any form of publication of information linked to the court proceedings on the case that could '€œreveal, imply, suggest or allege'€ that any of the 17 individuals played roles in the case.

The Australian Embassy in Jakarta released a statement on Thursday, saying that the naming of the 17 figures did not automatically imply wrongdoing on their part.

'€œWhile the statement from the Australian government in response to the President'€™s remarks was appeasing, it also carefully attempted to ask whether any more parties were allegedly involved,'€
Bambang added.

International relations expert Dewi Fortuna Anwar said it was important to differentiate between what the Australian government did and what Yudhoyono found objectionable about the leaked
injunction.

'€œThe action taken by the Australian government should be welcomed. They are conscious about the negative impacts that the court proceedings might have on the figures,'€ Dewi told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) researcher said that Australia had taken firm action to prevent the Australian media from picking up on the issue, despite the unpopularity of the decision.

Dewi also suggested that existing cooperation initiatives between the two countries, such as the Treaty on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (MLA), could be used once the court proceedings revealed more information pertaining to the case.

'€œWhen certain individuals are proven guilty, then we can use the legal framework to determine the next step,'€ she told the Post.

Dewi insisted that both governments were determined to restore their relations before Yudhoyono'€™s term ends in October. (tjs)