The year 2019 should have been celebrated as the 20-year milestone for Indonesia’s fight against corruption. Instead, it may be largely remembered as the year the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and antigraft activists fought a losing battle.

This year, Indonesia witnessed the enactment of a revised law that would defang the antigraft body. 2019 brought some good news too — but only for a high-profile graft defendant who was cleared of all charges and a handful of graft convicts who had their sentences reduced.

Twenty years ago, the country enacted its first anticorruption law in the Reform Era: Law No. 31/1999, which formally classified corruption as an extraordinary crime. The law was followed by the formation of the KPK in 2002.

“The international forum has been looking at Indonesia and its KPK as a beacon of hope, as the agency has been leading progress in the fight against corruption,” KPK deputy chairman Laode Muhammad Syarif said in a recent discussion. 

However, the public and antigraft activists may mark this year’s International Anticorruption Day, which falls on Monday, bitterly as their fight against corruption faced massive setbacks throughout the year.

One of the biggest blows this year was the revision to the KPK Law, which was hastily prepared by the House of Representatives in just two weeks, with little to no objection from the government to stop the process.

Many experts, including current KPK leaders, believe the revision was part of efforts to weaken the antigraft body, as it mandates the formation of a supervisory council to oversee the KPK and issue warrants for raids, wiretapping and confiscation.

The revised law — Law No. 19/2019 — also turns the KPK into a government body, which many fear will diminish the agency’s independence in investigating graft cases involving important figures within the government, political and business landscapes.

“I think it’s hard to be optimistic about the future of our fight against corruption,” Laode said.

More disappointments happened in courtrooms as the antigraft body lost in trials that resulted in the acquittal of graft defendants as well as sentence reductions for corruption convicts.

In November, the Jakarta Corruption Court cleared Sofyan Basir, former head of state-owned electricity firm PLN, of all charges in a bribery case related to a US$900 million project for a coal-fired power plant (PLTU) in Riau, known as the Riau-1 power plant project.

The antigraft body initially accused Sofyan of facilitating meetings with parties related to the project, which eventually led to a bribery case against Golkar Party politicians Idrus Marham and Eni Maulani Saragih.

The bench, however, argued evidence showed Sofyan was only doing his job in supporting the national electricity projects and did not have any knowledge of the bribery.

The KPK responded to Sofyan’s acquittal by filing an appeal with the Supreme Court hoping the country’s highest court would overrule the verdict.

However, activists began to question the Supreme Court’s commitment in combating corruption after it ruled in favor of graft convicts and reduced their sentences.

The Supreme Court, for instance, ruled in favor of Idrus’ appeal in the Riau-1 power plant case and reduced his prison sentence from five years to two years.

Aside from Idrus, the graft convicts who received a sentence reduction from the Supreme Court this year include former Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) chairman Syafruddin Arsyad Temenggung and former Regional Representatives Council (DPD) speaker Irman Gusman.

Akhiar Salmi, a legal expert at the University of Indonesia, said the recent changes in the country’s legal and political landscape had not favored the graft-fighting campaign. These setbacks, he went on to say, would harm the country even more than those that occurred during the New Order era.

“Corruption is a white collar crime committed by smart people. They consider the cost and benefit of committing any action, and recent events happening in the country would decrease the cost of doing the illicit practice,” Akhiar said.

“If the cost — in terms of punishment — keeps going down, it is possible that politicians or businessmen would continue to be involved in corrupt practices, because they would gain more benefit even if they were imprisoned for their crimes,” he went on to say.

While Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko claimed the KPK’s corruption eradication measures could hamper investment, Donal Fariz of Indonesia Corruption Watch begs to differ.

“Investors want legal certainty prior to investing their money here, which would not occur if the country’s officials are corrupt,” Donal said.

As the President was reluctant to revoke the revised KPK Law, concerned citizens and activists have taken the matter into their own hands by filing a judicial review motion challenging the new law at the Constitutional Court.

“We [current KPK leaders] have sent two letters to the President regarding the appointment of KPK supervisory members as well as the council’s structure. After we read regulations regarding the council, it seems like the KPK would be erased totally,” Laode said.

“There’s nothing we can do right now, aside from hoping the government revokes the revised law, which is the least that we can do,” he went on to say.

Controversial figure Insp. Gen. Firli Bahuri will take the reins of the commission on Dec. 20.  

The House appointed the three-star general as KPK chairman despite current KPK leaders claiming Firli was suspected of “gross ethical violations” during a brief stint at the KPK in 2018.

Popular

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Analysis: Indonesia denies normalization with Israel to enter OECD

Citroen to produce electric cars in Indonesia