Critics Lash Out at Call for Immunity for KPK Leaders

Jakarta Globe, Markus Junianto Sihaloho, Jan 26, 2015

Fadli Zon, left, a deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, is among
 critics of a proposal to grant immunity from prosecution to leaders of the
national antigraft commission. (Antara Photo/Andika Wahyu)

Jakarta. A request by Indonesia’s antigraft commission for immunity from criminal prosecution for its leaders has prompted an outcry from critics who warn it would escalate tensions with the police.

“I wholeheartedly disagree with issuing a regulation in lieu of law” — or perppu — “that would grant immunity to the leaders of the KPK,” or Corruption Eradication Commission, said Hendrik Sirait, the secretary general of the Alliance of Civilians for Great Indonesia, or Almisbat, which was set up to support Joko Widodo’s presidential bid last year.

Hendrik said such a regulation would render the KPK leaders above the law and would be considered an injustice and a discriminative policy by other law enforcement institutions.

“I’m afraid that the National Police will ask for the same thing because they also face legal problems and accusations,” he added.

The KPK and a former deputy justice minister, Denny Indrayana, have called on President Joko to pass the perppu on immunity, which would not require approval from the House of Representatives, following the arrest by the police on Friday, and conditional release several hours later, of KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto in connection with a refiled perjury complaint dating back to 2010.

A day after Bambang’s arrest, another KPK deputy chairman, Adnan Pandu Praja, was reported to the police by the lawyer for a timber company who accused him of illegally acquiring shares while advising the company during a management feud in 2006.

The shady revival of these years-old cases by the police comes in the wake of the KPK naming Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, Joko’s nominee for National Police chief, a suspect in connection with eye-watering sums passing through his bank accounts, as flagged by the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center, or PPATK, the government’s anti-money-laundering watchdog.

House Deputy Speaker Fadli Zon also warned against granting immunity to the KPK’s leaders, saying it would be a “betrayal of the law.”

“Our Constitution states that every citizen is equal before the law. Nobody is above the law, the KPK and the police are equal, therefore there should not be any impunity,” he said.

The KPK’s Adnan previously said he would submit a request for Joko for the perppu because the KPK was under attack. He said such a measure was not meant to put the KPK leadership above the law, but to protect it from its “enemies,” given the police’s history of going after KPK commissioners when its own top officials face an antigraft probe.

“Criminalizing the KPK means hampering corruption eradication efforts,” Adnan said.

Denny, the deputy justice minister under former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, agreed that a perppu on immunity for the KPK’s leaders was urgently needed in such an emergency situation.

“One by one the KPK leaders are being targeted. The president must issue the perppu to grant the KPK leaders immunity during their tenure,” he said.