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Inquiry into antigraft body a ‘bad precedent’ for law enforcement: KPK
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The good fight: Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Agus Rahardjo (center) poses with Save KPK Coalition members after a press conference in Jakarta on Sept.28. The coalition members are Betti Alisjahbana (second left), Chandra Hamzah (third left), Catharina Widyasrini (second right) and Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas (right). (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he House of Representatives’ plan to use its inquiry rights against the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) could set a bad precedent for other law enforcement bodies in Indonesia, KPK leaders have told the Constitutional Court (MK).
KPK deputy chairman Laode Muhammad Syarif asserted that the House’s ongoing inquiry into the antigraft body might threaten the independence of law enforcers in conducting a criminal investigation.
The statement he read during a Constitutional Court hearing had been signed by five KPK leaders and was part of a judicial review request raised by the body to challenge the House's inquiry rights.
Should the House's inquiry into the KPK continue, it would widen the door for political powers to intervene with Indonesia's law enforcement, including its commitment to eradicate corruption, Laode said.
“In the future, other law enforcement bodies such as the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court, the Attorney General's Office [AGO] and the National Police could be confronted with a situation similar to what the KPK is now facing,” Laode told a hearing on Thursday.
Laode urged the Constitutional Court to issue a ruling that could ensure criminal investigations conducted by independent law enforcement bodies would not be subject to a political inquiry from the House.
Ideally, he said, an inquiry should be launched to investigate the implementation of government policies considered to have violated the law.
As previously reported, a KPK workers’ union and several civil society groups have filed a judicial review request against a 2003 law on legislative bodies, which outlines institutions that are subject to a political inquiry by the House. (ebf)
