Better Protections Urged for Witnesses, Whistle-Blowers

Jakarta Globe, Novianti Setuningsih, April 13, 2013

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The antigraft body and witness protection agency have argued for a revision of the law to better protect witnesses and motivate more people to come forward.

Bambang Widjojanto, deputy chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), said on Friday that his office needed clearer legal criteria about those who could become whistle-blowers or justice collaborators for KPK investigations.

He also called for clarity on how his office could cooperate with other agencies, especially the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), in executing its duties.

“The 2002 KPK Law only says that the KPK must protect witnesses and those who file reports about graft cases. But we don’t have enough details,” he said.

He added that while the 2006 Law on Witness and Victim Protection offered protection for witnesses and victims of crimes, it did not adequately cover justice collaborators, a term including those convicted in a case who help authorities solve it.

Bambang said the KPK needed help from the LPSK in getting more witnesses to cases it handles.

Abdul Haris Semendawai, LPSK chairman, separately said on Friday that his office had pushed for an amendment to the law to the House of Representatives, saying it would provide greater protection to individuals instrumental in uncovering major corruption.

“We have failed to protect many justice collaborators because the law is not clear about our jurisdiction. We hope we can have the law amended sometime this year so we can protect more collaborators,” he said.

Supporters of the bid to protect justice collaborators have cited the case of Agus Condro Prayitno, a former legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), who revealed a Rp 24 billion bribery racket to select the senior deputy governor for Bank Indonesia in 2004, as highlighting the need for legal clarity.

Agus, whose testimony led to the conviction of 29 other legislators as well as the official in question, Miranda Goeltom, and the briber, Nunun Nurbaetie Daradjatun, was controversially ordered detained just moments before being released on parole.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Amir Syamsuddin blocked the move, saying that as a graft convict Agus was not entitled to early release.

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