The cases emerging from state institutions and enterprises include a range of corruption allegations, including fund misappropriation to manipulation of procurement processes.
And some of the cases involve high profile names. A prime example is the two VLCC tankers and their sale -- former minister of state enterprises Laksamana Sukardi is alleged to have been involved in inflicting around Rp 50 billion in losses of the state.
Another high profile case involves the misappropriation of Rp 100 billion at the central bank, which allegedly involved legislators and law enforcers.
This case is currently being investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
But these high profile graft cases are among 1,341 corruption cases, across the country, that are currently being tackled by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the KPK.
Some of these cases have been successfully won by prosecutors from both the AGO and the KPK.
They also managed to retrieve some of the funds initially lost by the state to corruption.
Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said this year the AGO had secured Rp 3,9 trillion of state losses and managed to return Rp 18 billion to the state treasury.
And the KPK, according to its report presented in a meeting with the House of Representatives' Law Commission, said it had secured around Rp 159 billion and had returned Rp 35.2 billion to state coffers.
Along with encouraging these massive efforts toward eradicating corruption, these successfully handled case function to shine the light of public outrage on the previously hidden dark corners of the abyss that is corruption in Indonesia.
Coordinator for the Judiciary Monitoring Commission of the Indonesian Corruption Watch, Adnan Topan Husodo, said efforts thus far had only truly frightened low scale perpetrators.
He said they had seen lesser effects on high scale thieves because these law enforcers did not dare to even try to challenge the court mafia.
We will continuously suffer losses because of the rampant practice of corruption, until law enforcers decide to hammer into court Mafioso, he said recently.
Trillions of rupiah could be secured if these Mafioso are shaken up, he said.
Denny Indrayana, chairman of the Anti Corruption Studies Center of Gadjah Mada University, said other than the existence of the court mafia, there were two things that could be used to measure the extent of corruption in Indonesia; this year's decrease in Indonesia's corruption perception index and the increasing trend for officials to declare publicly that they had settled graft allegations amicably by using backroom deals.
Despite the decrease in the country's corruption perception index, from 2.4 last year to 2.3 this year, Indonesia remains in the category of corrupt countries in the world, along with Russia and Togo.
This shows us that nothing has changed in this country, it is still lawless, Chairman of Indonesia Transparency International, Todung Mulya Lubis, said has he commented on the results of the survey.
One sign of this continued lawlessness can be seen in the trend of addressing corrupt acts through convoluted backroom deals, rather that through a more transparent legal processes.
Denny said, Every allegation must be proved through a legal process.
These compromises leave the people nothing but confusion as to the government's willingness to tackle corruption.
We never know what has actually been discussed in those deals, but, one thing for sure, it tears people's feeling apart, he said.
Law expert from the University of Padjajaran, Bandung, Asep Iwan Iriawan, told The Jakarta Post recently these backroom deals see the nation's efforts to beat corruption become meaningless.
Asep said even during Soeharto's regime, high officials rarely made any allegations of corruption in front of the media.
He said high officials should become role models for their people, rather than teaching them how to compromise in the face of allegations.
Denny said there were at least three backroom deals reported by the media throughout the year and this would likely represent an actual condition for a nation that has been eaten alive by corruption.
The cases include the dispute between then state minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra and KPK's chairman Taufiequrrahman Ruki over allegations of fund misappropriation in device procurement; the heated debate between president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Amien Rais over accusations the president had received foreign political aid; and the quarrel between the Supreme Court and the Supreme Audit Agency over the Court's refusal to be audited by the Agency.
The first battle occurred because Yusril, who was the justice minister when the procurement took place, did not accept the allegations made by the KPK that there were corrupt motives behind the direct appointment for the finger prints identifier device in the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights in 2004.
He insisted the procurement process was entirely in line with regulations.
Yusril said the direct appointment of the project contractor was allowed under the law and it could not be considered a misappropriation or an indication of corruption.
In response to that, Ruki then said KPK investigators had collected enough preliminary evidence to declare misappropriation in the procurement process because the procurement committee had directly appointed a project contractor without first putting it to tender.
He said there was even the possibility that Yusril would be summoned by KPK investigators as a witness in the case.
The heated dispute between these two high officials attracted President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's attention.
But, instead of initiating a legal process, SBY decided to handle the dispute with a backroom deal involving the two officials.
Another deal happened when the former chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly, Amien Rais accused President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of receiving campaign funds from foreign sources.
Amien said he had proof and was ready to verify his findings through a legal process.
SBY then responded, describing Amien's statement as slanderous.
He countered that his campaign team had received no donations from U.S sources.
He then accused Amien of trying to stir up a tempest in a tea cup.
However, they settled the problem in a 15-minute meeting held at the Halim Perdana Kusuma Airport, before SBY's departure to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Emerson Yuntho of the Indonesian Corruption Watch said these backroom deals actually showed Yudhoyono's administration shared the same weakness as the previous presidential administrations.
Yudhoyono's administration has failed to prove they are serious in tackling corruption, Emerson said.
If he were really that serious, he would order law enforcers to eradicate the court mafia and detain current officials seeing strong allegations of corruption.
He said the government should grant more access and give more political support to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) officers so they would be able to complete the hard tasks ahead of them.
He said the lack of political support, leeway provided for lawbreakers, and the arrogance of those who have power and money, were becoming part of an everyday story in this country.
A bitter reality indeed, even frustrating most of the time, but this is our country, so who else is going to reveal the corruption if not us? he said.
Dicky Christanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Source: Review 2007 The Jakarta Post |
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