Erwida Maulia and Dicky Christianto, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed former deputy attorney general Basrief Arief as the new attorney general, a surprise decision hailed by prosecutors and deplored by antigraft activists.

"I decided to name Basrief the new attorney general after advice from many parties, including the Vice President," he told a press conference at the Presidential Office on Thursday. He said he would soon appoint the head and members of the Prosecutors Commission to oversee and ensure reforms in the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

Basrief will be inaugurated as new attorney general, replacing Hendarman Supandji, on Friday. In late September, Yudhoyono dismissed Hendarman Supandji from his position following the Constitutional Court's verdict on former justice minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra's request for a judicial review of the AGO law.

Hendarman was appointed attorney general in a 2007 Presidential decree. The President later appointed Deputy Attorney General Darmono to be interim leader. However, this has left the country without a chief prosecutor for two months. Basrief's appointment has received mixed responses.

"I have faith in him because he knows his way around the AGO," Chaerul Umam, Basrief's former colleague at the AGO, told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. "It could be considered one of his strong points in leading the institution, apart from his skills and warm personality."

Chaerul said Basrief's background as an intelligence officer at the AGO would enable him to deliberate better strategies in tackling many key cases. However, Chaerul said Basrief was not an especially outstanding prosecutor. "It wasn't entirely his fault because his position, particularly in intelligence division, rarely gave him the chance to be a decision maker."

Emerson Yuntho from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said Basrief was appointed because he was seen as neutral by opposing groups within the AGO. "It's clear that the President did not look for someone committed to fighting graft." The graft watchdog said Basrief was an "insider" incapable of bringing reform to the AGO, which it accused of having long been riddled by corruption.

Basrief, who graduated from Padjajaran University in West Java and Andalas University in West Sumatra, was deputy attorney general between 2005 and 2007.

He once headed the AGO's corruption suspect search team and was a former member of the Corruption Eradication Commission selection team. He is also one of nine founders of the Institute of Legal and Constitutional Government. (ipa)

Basrief will be inaugurated as new attorney general, replacing Hendarman Supandji, on Friday.