JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Corruption continues to flourish although the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) repeatedly catches law enforcers, state officials and businesspeople red-handed. KPK chairman Agus Rahardjo said this happened because of the poor character and quality of people.
“Whoever becomes a state official, with substantial power, they will commit corruption,” Agus said on Friday (8/9) in Jakarta.
Moreover, Agus said bribery had become a daily routine in the country. “Bribery is like a daily habit. People offer bribes to register for an ID card or driver’s license. Meanwhile, our definition of corruption is obsolete. It only concerns an act that causes state losses and involves state officials. In Singapore, small acts could put someone in jail, even a bribe of Rp 100,000,” he said.
Based on Kompas records, from April through September 2017, the KPK carried out 11 raids related to bribery. Those arrested were from various backgrounds, such as leaders of state companies, officials and staff from regional administrations, officials from ministries, regional legislative council speakers, governors, regents, mayors, advocates, prosecutors, justices, businesspeople and village heads.
In the latest, on Wednesday and Thursday (6-7/9), the KPK allegedly caught four people, including Bengkulu Corruption Court justice Dewi Suryana and Bengkulu District Court official Hendra Kurniawan.
Regarding the continuous corruption, University of Indonesia criminal law lecturer Gandjar Laksamana said the legal culture in Indonesia had not developed. Many people refused to acknowledge they had committed corruption even though the courts ruled otherwise.
“There are people who see their acts not as corruption although they accept gratuities. Gratuities are part of corruption. Such a different understanding means they do not know they are a target. Even if they know they are a target, they think they can negotiate a prison sentence. There is a layered legal problem here,” Gandjar said.
Agus said a lack of legislation that could help arrest private-sector corruption suspects meant that corruption eradication was not optimal. We need to learn from other countries, such as Singapore, which can target the private sector through a powerful anticorruption law. “The law on corruption in the private sector needs to be enforced. Singapore issued such a law in 1952,” Agus said.
Corruption at court
Regarding the arrest of the Bengkulu judge, KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said investigators found Rp 40 million hidden in grass in the backyard of Dewi’s house. The money was alleged to be part of the commitment fee of Rp 125 million, promised by Syuhadatul Islamy, the brother of Wilson, a former head of Bengkulu Regional Assets Management Office, who was a defendant in a corruption case in Bengkulu in 2013.
The KPK has named three suspects in the case, namely Dewi , Hendra and Syuhadatul . “The possibility of other suspects is still being investigated,” Febri said.
Regarding the case, Supreme Court legal bureau head and spokesperson Abdullah said the Supreme Court Supervisory Board had questioned Bengkulu Court chief justice Kaswanto at Bengkulu High Court. The supervisory board investigated alleged negligence in supervising his subordinates. Currently, Kaswanto is non-active.
Gadjah Mada University Anticorruption Study Center director Zainal Arifin Mochtar said one factor that caused corruption was weak external supervision by the Judicial Commission. He proposed a reconstruction in the relations between the Judicial Commission and the Supreme Court to remedy this.