Bagus BT Saragih, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) might be allowed to drop cases and facing stricter wiretapping rules, as the House of Representatives deliberates on amending the law authorizing the anti-graft body.
The KPK's inability to drop cases ran counter to human rights, Eva Kusuma Sundari, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) who sits on House Commission III overseeing law and human rights, said on Thursday. "It violates the presumption of innocence principle," she said.
The KPK was established in 2003 under the Corruption Eradication Commission Law, which was enacted in 2002. Under the current law the anti-graft body cannot halt an investigation – a right that is frequently abused by other law enforcement bodies such as the police and prosecutors, according to critics.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) deputy coordinator Emerson Yuntho said such authority could lead to "bribery from suspects who want to escape legal charges".
KPK deputy chairman M. Jasin denied that the commission had previously violated the presumption of innocence of suspects. "Without the authority to drop a case, we are prudent in declaring suspects. We have never detained people with lack of supporting evidence," he said.
Since the KPK's establishment, none of its suspects brought to trial have been acquitted.
Commission III chairman Benny Kabur Harman of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, said the proposal was aimed at eliminating reckless arrests. However, he said Eva's concerns were "a possibility".
The Constitutional Court rejected a judicial review request of the KPK Law in January, upholding articles that proscribed the commission from terminating an investigation.
Both Benny and Eva agreed that the KPK's authority to monitor suspects needed more scrutiny. "Wiretapping is about privacy. It must be authorized under very tight conditions," Eva said. Benny said the KPK's current standard operating procedures for wiretapping still had loopholes that could be abused.
The Golkar Party's Bambang Soesatyo said he opposed increased wiretapping requirements. "Golkar thinks that the KPK's current wiretapping and investigative mechanisms are already good," he told the Post.
Eva said the KPK's authority to prosecute suspects should be limited. "The authority should be limited to investigations. Prosecutions should be done by the Attorney General's Office," she said, something rejected by both Benny and Bambang.
The House debate on limiting KPK prosecutions may be influenced by the party affiliations of 24 former and current lawmakers who were previously detained by the anti-graft body, including 13 PDI-P lawmakers. Eva, a PDI-P lawmaker, refused to answer questions on perceived retaliation directed at the KPK.
ICW coordinator Febri Diansyah said lawmakers would effectively "murder" the KPK if they insisted on inserting articles that might weaken the commission in the law revision. "The House's image has been damaged enough before the public and yet they still want to degrade the KPK's power," he told the Post.