SBY: 'I Want to End the Fighting' Over Indonesia Antigraft Case

The Jakarta Globe

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has signaled that he wants the controversial criminal case against two senior officials from the Corruption Eradication Commission to be resolved out of court.

While Yudhoyono is not scheduled to announce his position on moves by the National Police and Attorney General’s Office to put the two anti-corruption officials on trial until tonight, he told a gathering of the chief editors of 75 media organizations on Sunday night that the growing crisis was hurting the country.

“An out-of-court settlement is fair, with significant improvements in all law enforcement agencies. I want to end the fighting among [the] three law enforcement institutions, to eradicate corruption together,” Yudhoyono said. “I have talked to the AGO and the police about using their right to deponering. But I leave it up to them to decide.”

“Deponering” is a Dutch legal term that means to discontinue a case in the public interest.

Last week, a fact-finding team appointed by the president submitted a 31-page report on the case. The team concluded that there was insufficient evidence to warrant prosecuting Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah, the suspended deputy chairmen of the anticorruption commission, known as the KPK, for extortion and abuse of power.

After receiving the report, Yudhoyono said his cabinet — and the National Police and AGO, both of which were pushing for prosecution — would study its recommendations and respond today. But he warned the public, outraged by an apparent plot by police and prosecutors to frame the KPK officials, that he would not overstep his authority and unilaterally order the case to be halted.

“I don’t want to weaken an institution, especially the KPK, which has a very important role in fighting corruption,” he said. “That is why, from the beginning, I did not want to enter an area that is not part of the president’s authority. For me, so that there is certainty, the one who decides what is right or wrong is the courts. But if there isn’t enough evidence, don’t proceed to court.”

“I’m trying not to misuse my authority because it would destroy our Constitution. The Constitution has already limited the authority of the president,” he added.

Separately, he said he would support an investigation into the central government’s Rp 6.7 trillion ($710 million) bailout of PT Bank Century last year.

Justice Minister Patrialis Akbar last week denied rumors that some of the bailout funds were diverted to Yudhoyono’s re-election campaign. “Open everything, because someone said the funds were connected with the legislative and presidential elections. Please PPTAK, please BI, open everything,” he said, referring to the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center and Bank Indonesia.

The president said he would also announce his position on the Bank Century case tonight, noting that the results of the Supreme Audit Agency’s investigation of the bailout would be submitted to the House today.

Corruption watchdogs have expressed skepticism that Yudhoyono would order the KPK case to be halted. But Hikmahanto Juwana, a fact-finding team member, said on Sunday he was confident Yudhoyono would follow the team’s recommendations. “He must also consider the broader political implications of his actions, and not just a narrow legal case.”

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