The Attorney General's Office's (AGO) decision to drop the charges against two anticorruption figures has met more criticism.

A group called the Society Forum Concerned with Law Enforcement, supported by 19 civil organizations'€“ including the Indonesian Police Watch (IPW)'€“ conveyed on Monday its disappointment over the AGO'€™s move to drop cases implicating former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto to the House of Representatives.

The forum urged the House to use its interpellation and investigation rights to request information from Attorney General M. Prasetyo pertaining to the AGO'€™s decision to drop Abraham and Bambang'€™s charges and to issue a prosecution cessation order (SKPP) in an assault case implicating ex-KPK investigator Novel Baswedan.

'€œWe urged the House to amend the AGO Law, specifically Article 35 [c] on the attorney general'€™s tasks and authorities,'€ the forum'€™s spokesman, Insp.Gen.(Ret.) Sisno Adiwinoto, said during a hearing with members of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs in Jakarta on Monday.

Several Commission III lawmakers attended the hearing led by the commission'€™s deputy chairman, Desmond Junaidi Mahesa.

Commission III chairman Bambang Soesatyo said the Golkar Party faction supported the forum and would convey its requests on the possible use of the House'€™s interpellation and investigation rights to the faction'€™s leaders.

Abraham, a former KPK chairman, was named a suspect by the National Police in a document fraud case while Bambang was charged with perjury relating to a local election dispute at the Constitutional Court while he was a lawyer.

Meanwhile, Novel was accused by the police of shooting robbery suspects during his tenure as a Bengkulu Police detective chief in 2004.

On Feb. 22, the AGO issued an SKPP in Novel's case due to its expiration on Feb. 19 and the police's inability to gather enough evidence to continue the case.

Split of stances

Several Commission lawmakers voiced their different stances over the use of the House'€™s interpellation and investigation rights to investigate the AGO'€™s move.

Before the meeting, Bambang claimed that the right of investigation is not the commission's authority.

According to the Legislative Institutions (MD3) Law, the right of investigation must be proposed by at least 25 lawmakers from two political factions.

Arsul Sani from the United Development Party (PPP) faction said several individuals may have wanted to propose the use of the House'€™s investigation right.

Raising another perspective, Risa Mariska of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction said the commission wanted to hear the attorney general's reasons for dropping the cases implicating Abraham and Bambang. The AGO is one of the commission's work partners, she said.

"The attorney general said his move to drop the cases, or known as deponeering, was for the sake of public interest. Which public interest was that?" Risa said on Monday, adding that both Abraham and Bambang were no longer leading the anticorruption commission.

"The attorney general's decision has too many improprieties. Apart from legal matters, he must have an objective reason to use deponeering," Nasir Djamil, lawmaker from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said during Monday'€™s meeting. (ebf)

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