AGO spokesperson M. Rum rejected previous media reports, which stated Attorney General HM Prasetyo supported the House of Representative's moves to scrap the anti-graft body’s powers.

“The Attorney General has never said that [the AGO] wanted to erase the [KPK’s] prosecution powers,” Rum said as quoted by Antara in Jakarta on Wednesday.

(Read also: AGO supports House's move to erode KPK's power)

Rum said Prasetyo's statement about the KPK’s prosecution powers during his meeting with the House's Commission III, which oversees legal affairs, was only made in response to questions raised by lawmakers regarding the difference between law enforcement systems for corruption eradication in Indonesia and its two neighboring countries — Malaysia and Singapore.

“There was no statement made, which suggested prosecution tasks [of graft convicts] should be taken over by the AGO,” Rum asserted.

He said law enforcement agencies, including the AGO, the National Police and the KPK, should be synergized and support each other.

During the meeting with the Commission III on Monday, Prasetyo compared Indonesian's law enforcement system on corruption eradication with those implemented in Singapore and Malaysia, where AGOs are the only entities endowed with prosecution authority.

“The AGOs in Singapore and Malaysia are the only law enforcement bodies that have the final say regarding prosecution of corruption cases. They told us that an institution with powerful, limitless control will tend to become arbitrary," Prasetyo said during the hearing. (afr/ebf)

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