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In KPK we trust?
To restore its credibility, there is no option other than for the KPK to launch an investigation into the motive behind the close contact between Lili and Syahrial.
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Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioner Lili Pintauli Siregar (center) and General Elections Commission (KPU) head Arief Budiman (left) listen to questions raised by journalists in a press conference in Jakarta in this file photo. (JP/Seto Wardhana)
T
he lenient punishment handed down to deputy Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Lili Pintauli Siregar despite her serious violation of the code of ethics is not only difficult to accept, but it also deepens public distrust in the antigraft body, once known as the most respected institution in the country.
It remains to be seen whether its waning credibility will affect the performance of KPK investigators, but the threat of demoralization cannot be disregarded. On the other hand, efforts to restore its tainted image could lead the KPK to big catches or revelations of high-profile graft cases.
On Monday Lili was found guilty of an ethics breach for keeping in close contact with a person of interest in a KPK probe into alleged bribery involving the then mayor of Tanjungbalai, North Sumatra, M. Syahrial. Lili also notified Syahrial, who is now a suspect, that he was under KPK investigation.
According to the KPK Law such misconduct should have cost Lili her job. Not only that, the same law says KPK leaders could face up to five years in jail if found guilty of communicating, directly or indirectly, with anyone under KPK investigation.
In fact, the KPK supervisory council, billed as a strong oversight body due to its powers, only punished Lili by reducing her basic salary by 40 percent over the next 12 months, although it could have sought the maximum penalty given the serious violations Lili had committed – without remorse.
The KPK supervisory council’s leniency was not without precedent. In September last year the council found KPK chief Firli Bahuri guilty of a minor ethics violation for indulging in a “hedonistic lifestyle” and punished him with a written reprimand. Firli faced the music after he had traveled from Palembang to his hometown Baturaja on a chartered helicopter. The council did not find evidence of his acceptance of a gratuity in the helicopter ride case, although corruption watchdogs felt otherwise.
As a KPK director in 2019, Firli faced a disciplinary hearing for allegedly committing the same offense Lili did, but unlike Lili, the KPK ethics council at that time declared Firli guilty of a gross violation. The council said Firli had met with then West Nusa Tenggara governor Zainul Majdi twice in May 2018, when the KPK was investigating a graft case implicating the governor.
For sure the light sentences mean the KPK lacks a credible mechanism to deter its leaders from breaching the code of ethics and conduct, while the integrity of a law enforcement institution like the KPK depends much on compliance with the rules. For Lili, a salary reduction amounting to Rp 1.85 million (US$126) per month will hardly affect her financially as she still earns Rp 108 million in various allowances from the state.
To restore its credibility, there is no option other than for the KPK to launch an investigation into the motive behind the close contact between Lili and Syahrial. If necessary the KPK can file a report with the police as then KPK deputy chief Bibit Samad Riyanto did in 2009 when then KPK chief Antasari Azhar was found to have met fugitive businessman Anggoro Widjaja in Singapore.
