M

any would agree that corruption eradication, as part of the reform agenda laid out almost 20 years ago, has largely paid off. The graft conviction of former House of Representatives speaker and Golkar chairman Setya Novanto on Tuesday is the latest evidence of this.

The Jakarta Corruption Court sentenced Setya to 15 years’ imprisonment for rigging the Rp 5.9 trillion (US$424 million) e-ID project, which reportedly caused state losses of Rp 2.3 trillion. Setya was also ordered to pay a fine of Rp 500 million and $7.3 million in restitution to the state, or serve an extra two years in prison.

Of course, some would consider this punishment to be too light. Setya may leave prison before the 15 years are up, provided that he accepts the sentence and displays good behavior while in prison in order to receive generous remission. He may remain as rich as he is today despite the court’s move to seize his assets to pay the restitution. Not to mention the possibility of him buying privileges from corrupt prison guards and wardens.

While acknowledging that corruption is rampant in our penitentiary system, we should not lose our faith in those responsible for upholding the law against corruption. The message the Jakarta Corruption Court and other defenders of justice were sending through Setya’s conviction is quite loud and clear: the fight against graft knows no fear.

Setya was a representation of the powerful because of the strategic posts he held as well as the political and business connections that followed. After he fell from grace following the circulation of his conversation with the then-president director of PT Freeport Indonesia concerning his quest for the gold mining giant’s shares, it took him less than a year to regain his high-ranking positions.

In dealing with Setya, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) did not compromise, leading to the prosecution of other serving heads of high state institutions such as former Constitutional Court chief Akil Mochtar and Regional Representative Council speaker Irman Gusman.

Such a tough and persistent drive against graft is just what we need if we are to instill the rule of law as a requirement of a mature democracy. Corruption is a clear and present danger to our hard-earned democracy as evident in numerous vote-buying cases tarnishing our national and regional elections.

For the sake of justice, the KPK cannot stop with the conviction of Setya, who has implicated a number of VVIPs in the case. The whole picture of this scandal must unfold, or else allegations of the KPK’s discriminatory law enforcement will be proven true.