Now, the fight against corruption is beginning to weaken. The KPK Law was revised. A supervisory council was established. Political elites no longer want the KPK to be aggressive in taking action against corruption.
By
KOMPAS EDITOR
·3 minutes read
Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro
Former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Azis Syamsuddin, arrives at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) building, Jakarta, Monday (22/11/2021).
Sting operations, which are often conducted by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), are being negotiated. There has been a suggestion that there should be a notice in advance.
Another suggestion was that sting operations should not target law enforcers as they are symbols of the state. Banyumas Regent Achmad Husein, as quoted by a number of media outlets, asked that prior to conducting a sting operation, the KPK should first summon the official who is being targeted. “If it is apparent they’re willing to change, then let them go. But if not, only then should they be arrested,” said Husein.
According to House of Representatives Commission III member Arteria Dahlan, police, prosecutors and judges should not be arrested through sting operations as they are symbols of the state. Arteria’s statement was later retracted when Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto said it was a slip of the tongue.
The idea that police, prosecutors and judges should not be arrested during sting operations denies the very principle of equality before the law. Article 27 of the 1945 Constitution affirms that every citizen is equal before the law. The very statement that the police, prosecutors and judges are symbols of the state also does not sit right because it elevates them above citizens.
Before the KPK Law was revised, the KPK’s authority to wiretap angered many parties – the authority of which was granted by the House. Yet when the KPK then wiretapped members of the House, several of the people’s representatives were angered and sought to revoke the KPK’s wiretapping authority. As a result, the KPK Law was revised and the authority to conduct sting operations and wiretap had to first be approved by the KPK’s new supervisory council.
Kompas/Hendra A Setyawan
Deputy Chairperson of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Lili Pintauli Siregar (right) with the Head of the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) Commissioner General Agus Andrianto give a press statement related to the arrest operation of Nganjuk Regent Novi Rahman Hidhayat, at the KPK Building, Jakarta, Monday (10/10/2020). 5/2021).
Giving “immunity” to law enforcers and suggesting that sting operations come with notice are all steps backward in corruption eradication. History shows that the KPK was pressured into existence by anticorruption groups after the fall of the New Order, because of rampant corruption and the lack of “clean” law enforcement. That was where the spirit of reformation lay.
Now, the fight against corruption is beginning to weaken. The KPK Law was revised. A supervisory council was established. Political elites no longer want the KPK to be aggressive in taking action against corrupt state administrators. The new approach Indonesia is taking to eradicate corruption is only prevention. The KPK has become the Corruption Prevention Commission.
What the Banyumas regent suggested has already been done. KPK deputy chairperson Lili Pintauli Siregar was found guilty by the KPK supervisory council for passing on information to the mayor of Tanjungbalai. As corruption has become endemic in this country, the behaviors and speeches of the elite become increasingly permissive.
It may be true what Sindhunata wrote in his introduction to law in Negara di Simpang Jalan (Country at a Crossroads) published in 2021, that corruption has been lodged into people’s minds and is a subconscious activity that cannot be controlled. The logic of the elite, as mentioned above, will not help this country fight against corruption.
