Category Archives: KPK
More details about Indonesian judicial corruption scandal
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Indonesian judge arrested for corruption
Last night, Indonesia’s anti-corruption commission (KPK) arrested a bankruptcy court judge in the Central Jakarta Commercial Court on charges of corruption. He will be required to undergo judicial ethics training with the Judicial Commission. It’s unclear if this is part of a larger effort to crack down on judicial corruption or just an individual case. It was a particularly conspicuous case in that the judge had tens of thousands of dollars (in different currencies), but it’s certainly not the only case of judicial corruption. There are a few brief articles about the case in The Jakarta Post here, here, here, and here. Hopefully we’ll see on this case more soon.
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Suspects for life?
A few months ago, I mentioned that Indonesia’s Attorney General dropped what many believed were fraudulent charges against two KPK deputies, Bibit and Chandra. Surprisingly, some of their supporters wanted the two men to fight it out in court, believing that only a full trial would full vindicate them. Technically, the government used a Dutch procedure known as a deponering, which suspends the prosecution but still considers the men suspects.
Now, it appears opponents of the KPK seek to wield that technicality against Bibit and Chandra. According to The Jakarta Globe, the two men were not permitted to attend a House hearing on the KPK and reforms. Lawmakers claimed this was because the men were still legally considered suspects. Yet, as the newspaper notes, many believe the move was in retaliation for the arrest of 19 former and current legislators on charges of corruption.
Sadly, it seems that even if Bibit and Chandra are no longer in immediate danger of prosecution, last year’s compromise over the case also compromised their ability to act effectively. Yet another tragedy in the story of post-reformasi Indonesia.
Of Geckos and Crocodiles
When the Washington, D.C., think-tank crowd gathers for an event on legal reform in Indonesia, you know a major scandal is brewing. At a CSIS event earlier this week, November 23 2009, Michael Buehler, of Columbia University’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute, discussed the ongoing controversy surrounding Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Appropriately titled Of Geckos and Crocodiles,” the talk discussed the KPK (nicknamed the geckos), and its failure to root out vested interests in the police and judiciary (the crocodiles).
Buehler began his talk with a tour de force of Indonesia’s current anti-corruption legal framework. He later discussed the institutional capacity of Indonesia’s legal institutions, particularly the KPK. As of 2009, the KPK has a staff of 400 and a budget of $22 million – an obvious improvement over the Suharto era, but miniscule compared to its counterparts in Hong Kong and Singapore. According to Buehler’s data, the the KPK Corruption Court (TIPIKOR) handled over 30% of all corruption cases in the country. Impressively, it has a 100% conviction rate against defendants, versus less than 40% in the regular judiciary. However, most of those officials convicted in the TIPIKOR have been lower-level officials rather than the “big fish.”
Unfortunately, the SBY administration watered down the legal basis for the KPK and TIPIKOR in the Corruption Court Law of 2009. Previously, TIPIKOR judge panels consisted of a mix of ad hoc and career judges. The former were seen as more independent than the latter, who often must please superiors to receive promotions. However, the new law would replace the ad hoc judges entirely with career judges. Furthermore, the district court chief judge can alter a panel of TIPIKOR judges at will, even further weakening their independence. The law also establishes a branch of the TIPIKOR in all 33 provinces, but some critics allege that this would simply stretch the KPK’s already limited resources too thin.
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Another commission for Indonesian legal reform?
With the brewing scandal over the Indonesian police’s ham-handed efforts to blackball the Corruption Commission (KPK), it appears there is talk once again of a commission to reform Indonesia’s legal system. According to Reuters, Adnan Buyung Nasution, recently appointed by President Yudhoyono to a task force to respond to the scandal, has proposed a new state commission to oversee and enforce legal reforms:
I would like to see the whole case [the recent scandal] as an entry point to reform the legal institutions in Indonesia,’ Mr Nasution, 75, said in a telephone interview. With enough evidence, ‘we might make a recommendation to establish a state commission to reform the legal institutions so that we have rule of law in Indonesia.
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Filed under corruption, indonesia, KPK, Mahkamah Konstitusi, Simon Butt