Experts warn that a possible decision by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) to drop the cases against Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputies Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M. Hamzah could impede efforts to reform the country’s law enforcement agencies.
Dropping the cases, experts warned here Sunday, would prevent the public from determining whether the cases made by the police and the AGO were fabricated.
“Only the court can prove if the police and the AGO do have sufficient evidence, or if such evidence was fabricated by officials,” said Chaerul Huda, a legal expert from Muhammadiyah University’s law school in Jakarta.
While TV stations are likely to broadcast the trials nationwide, Chaerul expressed optimism the process would be fair, and would reveal the truth, adding that if information revealed in the wiretapped conversations confirmed the alleged plot by the police and the AGO to sabotage the KPK, then public pressure would lead to stern action against the involved officials and would facilitate reform of the two law enforcement bodies.
On the contrary, he said, preventing the cases from going to court would mean the push for the reform of both institutions would lose momentum.
It could create a condition of “business as usual” in the institutions, as the AGO and the police could claim they had done their jobs well by providing sufficient evidence, and that only the President had prevented the cases from going further.
After meeting with National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced that it would be better for the cases to be settled out of court.
After the President’s statement, Bambang said they had done their jobs by submitting the dossiers to the AGO, with Hendarman stating they would drop the cases if the dossiers were completed and ready
for trial.
Assistant attorney general for special crimes, Marwan Effendi, said here Sunday that the two cases had been ready for trial, and the prosecutors were seeking reasons to drop the cases this week.
Antigraft activist Hendardi said that if the President really wanted to fight corruption then he should have declared that there was no case against the two KPK leaders from the beginning, as well as follow recommendations made by his fact-finding team, which claimed there was no evidence to incriminate both Chandra and Bibit in graft cases.
“The President just wanted to save the police and the AGO by giving them the authority to drop
the cases.
“Now, we expect no push for reform within the two institutions.”
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