KPK at the mercy of President and party leaders

Legislators' zeal at DPR, the House of Representatives, to push for revision of Law No. 30/2002 about the Corruption Eradication Commission or KPK has become unstoppable. In the face of waves of public repulsion, the Legislation Council of DPR resolved to take the revision to plenary to be approved as an official DPR initiative. As a matter of fact, the legislators have already established a working committee for the revision of KPK Law, ahead of order.

In a Baleg meeting held on Feb. 10, only Gerindra Party would firmly reject the revision. A rumored rejection from Democrat Party came to nothing. On the pretext of strengthening KPK and prevent potential abuse of power by the anti-graft body, the majority of house factions approved the motion to revise KPK Law. Later, Chairperson of the Democrat Party, former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, instructed his cadres at the house to reject the revision.

Then, where does the government stand? Up to this moment, President Joko Widodo has not issued a statement to reject revision of the Law. According to Special Staff on Communication Johan Budi SP, the President would pull out from legislative deliberation on the Law should the revision prove to be harmful for KPK – keeping in line with public demands.

The people's repugnance on DPR's move was captured in a recent public survey conducted by Indikator which revealed how the majority consider this revision to be damaging for KPK. Moreover, more than 58,000 netizens signed an online petition at http://change.org/janganbunuhKPK to urge DPR and the President to stop the revision discourse. The new line-up of KPK leaders joined the people to reject the revision with comparable arguments.

Thus far, there are conflicting arguments that this revision will weaken or strengthen KPK. In order to properly criticize whether the proposed draft would be positive or negative on KPK, one must observe the substance of the revision. In the draft, many of the KPK's essential authorities would be abated. It won't make a protracted debate to conclude that the primary motive behind the revision is to impair KPK, exactly because KPK had uncovered too many corruption cases involving political party members at the house.

In practice, the position of each faction depends highly on instructions given by party leaders. Naturally, the standpoint of party leaders is immensely strategic. Their commands will be the touchstone for party cadres in DPR to decide whether to pull out or press on with the revision agenda, thus dictating the fate of KPK. This becomes crystal clear when one observes the stance taken by Gerindra Party, which was followed by their counterparts from Democrat Party.

Aside from the party leaders, to future of this Law revision also lays in the hands of the President. The people remember, Jokowi-JK campaigned for their Nawa Cita program during the 2014 presidential election, a program that highlighted an endeavor to strengthen KPK. The controversies surrounding this revision provide the perfect momentum for Jokowi's administration to demonstrate its commitment to Nawa Cita. Particularly, considering the President's central position in enacting a Law.

Although the legislative is the architect of Laws, the executive deliberates and ratify them, and the President holds a partial veto to reject or annul the initiative. And although the President had not issued a firm stance, the people still believes that Jokowi would not sacrifice a crucial agenda to eradicate corruption and move ahead with the revision of KPK Law.***

Alarming! Corruption verdicts becoming lenient

In general, a monitoring result recently published by ICW, the Indonesia Corruption Watch, paints an alarming phenomenon. Corruptions in Indonesia are being dealt with weak charges, light verdicts and paltry fines. Considering its position among nations that have ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption, Indonesia is supposed to perceive corruption as an extra-ordinary crime.

( For complete report, go to www.antikorupsi.org/ZG5 )

Regularly, ICW conducts monitoring and analysis of all verdicts issued by the Indonesian corruption courts. During 2015, ICW monitored 524 corruption cases throughout the archipelago. Interestingly, 461 suspects (81.7%) were found guilty of corruption, yet the average imprisonment sentence was merely 26 months. Compared to the previous years, this underlines a declining trend in severity of verdicts. In 2014, for instance, the average sentence was 32 months.

Furthermore, ICW classified verdicts into four categories from all identified cases. The first was heavy verdicts with more than 10 years of prison sentence, where only 3 verdicts were classified (0.7%). Second were medium verdicts with prison sentence between 4 to 10 years, where 9.9% or 56 sentences were classified. Third were the lightweight verdicts with prison sentence from 1 to 4 years where the majority of 71.1%, or 401 sentences, were classified. Indonesia's Corruption Law stated that a minimum prison sentence of 1 to 4 years. And lastly, the acquittal, with 12.12% or 68 verdicts. In this regard, ICW's research also revealed that the Corruption Court of Banda Aceh took top spot for issuing acquittals.

In terms of fines, 309 convicts were required to pay a penalty in the range of Rp 50m. In reference to article 3 of the Corruption Law, this amount was supposed to be the minimum baseline for fines.

Another point to note is the trend of indictment sought by Attorney General prosecutors. The report revealed that the average charge in a corruption case is 42 months. Indictment in a case will most definitely influence the verdicts to be issued by the judges. It would be difficult for a judge to give maximum penalty, if the prosecutors only ask for minimum charges.

The monitoring results could provide a mirror for the Attorney General Office and the Supreme Court to reflect on. There need to be a common perspective among prosecutors and judges about the impacts of corruption. The Attorney General must pursue charges above the average of ordinary crimes, while corruption court judges should have the guts to enforce maximum penalty when suspects are found guilty beyond doubt. Is this not a nation that proclaims corruption as a crime extraordinaire? If it is, then why does the judicial system could only dispense ordinary verdicts?***

WEEKLY SUMMARY

• ICW among acclaimed world think tank organizations - www.antikorupsi.org/ZGQ

• The ongoing fight to revise KPK Law since 2010 - www.antikorupsi.org/ZGA

• ICW inquired case progress on Jakarta Audit Office chief - www.antikorupsi.org/ZGd

• Corruption eradication weakened, interfaith leaders call for Presidents resolve - www.antikorupsi.org/ZGP

• To reject KPK Law revision, CSO coalition met with legislators - www.antikorupsi.org/ZGW

• Petition to reject KPK Law revision gets thousands of support - www.antikorupsi.org/ZGm

• Here's CSO coalition demands regarding KPK Law revision - www.antikorupsi.org/ZGs

• DPR's retort to public backlash on KPK Law revision - www.antikorupsi.org/ZGe

• ICW monitoring report: Corruption verdicts more lenient - www.antikorupsi.org/ZGn

STATUS UPDATES

February 4

• Defendant in corruption of Public Health Insurance fund (Jamkesmas) and procurement of medical equipments between 2008-2011 at Adjidarmo General Hospital in Rangkasbitung, Indra Lukmana, was sentenced to one year in prison by judges at Serang Corruption Court.

• A trial was held in Jakarta Corruption Court on the UPS case where Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama attended for a testimony.

• Corruption crimes unit at East Kalimantan Police named five suspects in corruption of Paser airport construction. One of the suspects is a local official.

February 5

• General Secretary of DPR, Winantuningtyastiti Swasanani, was questioned at KPK for the case implicating legislator Damayanti Wisnu Putranti.

February 9

• Lawyer for suspect of corruption at the Traffic Corps of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Police, Nikolaus Liko Kolin, filed a defense plea against the prosecution from the NTT Attorney General.

• East Kalimantan Police officially detained four suspects in the alleged corruption of Paser airport corruption.

• Dossiers are ready to be filed to State Attorney General on three corruption suspects in a 2009 budget misappropriation for Bobong airport land acquisition in North Maluku, worth Rp 4.6b.

• KPK questioned DPR member from Commission V, Fauzih Amro, as witness in a gratification case at the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing for the 2016 fiscal year.

February 10

• Jakarta Provincial Court aggravated the verdict against former Regent of Bangkalan in East Java, Fuad Amin Imron, to 13 years and Rp 1b in fines (equal to another 6 months in prison) as well as a deprival of his political rights.

• KPK named three suspects in an alleged corruption of a 2013 budget for controlled cultivation of pest organism facilities procurement at the Ministry of Agriculture.

• Former Minister of Tourism and Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Jero Wacik, was sent to 4 years in prison and fined Rp 150m, equal to another 3 months in prison.

• An alleged corruption at the Bandar Seikijang Branch of Bank Rakyat Indonesia was put to trial at Pekanbaru Corruption Court.