Despite pledges, no E. Java graft cases get to court

Suara indonesia News - Though both the police and prosecutors have been declaring their
fierce competition in the fight against corruption in the
province, so far no cases have been brought to court from either
investigative channel.

The provincial prosecutor's office pledged it would bring to
court in the next three months all graft cases it has been
investigating. Meanwhile the provincial police have suspended
many corruption investigations due to the ongoing reshuffle of a
number of key positions in the province.

Chief prosecutor Zulkarnaen said here on Friday his office would
speed up its four graft investigations: the Rp 2,2 billion (US$
225,000) outlay for a CT scanner for Gresik General Hospital,
the Rp 56 billion involving PIA Jemundo, the Rp 947 million
outlay for the lift and escalator procurement at the Pasar Turi
rehabilitation project and the Rp 6 billion Bojonegoro affair.

Zulkarnaen said he had ordered all prosecutors to work harder to
wrap up without exception their many investigations within the
next three months. "The deadline has been set for prosecutors to
complete their investigations by the end of this year. We're
trying to reduce opportunities for abuse of power and
bribe-taking during these investigations."

He also said prosecutors who failed to meet the deadline would
be assigned minor cases as disincentives and those found abusing
their power would be subject to harsh sanctions.

He called on the public, especially print and electronic media,
to closely supervise ongoing major graft investigations.

Assistant to the chief prosecutor for intelligence, A.F.
Darmawan, said he was concentrating on investigating several
former officials in Bojonegoro, including former regent Santoso,
for the alleged embezzlement of Rp 6 billion in regency funds
during their tenure from 2002 to 2007.

He, however, said his side would not prematurely declare the
former regent a suspect before conducting an in-depth study of
the matter.

For their part, the police are still investigating three graft
cases involving the disappearance of 97.8 billion in Situbondo,
Rp 720 million in Surabaya and Rp 40 billion in Banyuwangi.

In Situbondo, eight people, including two former local
officials, have been detained as suspects while the regent
Ismunarso -- who approved the investment of some of the
regency's 2008 funds in a coal-trading firm in Jakarta. for
which he received fees from a private trading company -- has
evaded suspicion.

The chief detective within the provincial police, Sr. Comr. Edy
Supriyadi, said the police declined to explain why the regent
had not been detained despite the evidence implicating him.

"I myself do not understand the case. I have to study it first
before resuming the investigation."

Edy was appointed as new chief detective two weeks ago to
replace Sr. Comr. Rusli Nasution who was promoted as chief of
police in Malang.

Head of the corruption crimes section within the provincial
police, Adj. Sr. Comr. I Nyoman Komin, who is expected to change
job descriptions himself shortly, said the corruption
investigations had been suspended for the time being due to the
internal reshuffle of a number of police officials at the
provincial level.

I Wayan Titib Sulaksana, a legal expert at Airlangga University
in Surabaya, slammed law enforcement for trying to buy time in
their investigations into the widespread corruption in the
province.

he said the slow pace has given law enforcement ample
opportunity to unethically negotiate the cases with suspects and
prospective suspects. (RED)