Ulma Haryanto – In a rare display of unity, top law enforcement officials on Tuesday agreed to give better protection to whistle-blowers, recognizing them as an integral part of the country's fight against crime, especially corruption.

Abdul Haris Semendawai, the chairman of the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK), said it was important to discuss a system of rewards so that people were "willing to cooperate with law enforcers to punish greater crimes."

Supreme Court Chief Justice Harifin Tumpa, National Police Chief Timur Pradopo, Justice and Human Rights Minister Patrialis Akbar, Attorney General Basrief Arief and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Busyro Muqoddas joined Abdul to sign a statement on the protection of whistle-blowers.

Providing security for whistle-blowers is important in order to uncover corruption and other serious or organized crimes such as terrorism, money laundering or illegal logging, Abdul said.

"The Supreme Court will issue a directive soon, and based on a presidential instruction, there will be a joint ministerial decree by December 2011," he said. "The Supreme Court's directive will refer directly to Article 10 of the 2006 Law on Witness and Victim Protection," Harifin said, explaining that the article allowed judges to demonstrate leniency for whistle-blowers.

Denny Indrayana, secretary of the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force, which also attended the meeting, added that his team, together with the LPSK, used the opportunity to push for a revision of the 2006 law. "Through the joint agreement and an international seminar we hope that we have helped law enforcement officials understand the issues and speed up the revision process," Denny said.

Abdul said that revision of the law would include details on reduction of sentences, such as pardons or parole, appropriate treatment for defendants and the criteria to be fulfilled to be considered a whistle-blower.

"The Supreme Court is responsible for providing recommendations to the president on pardons," Harifin said. "We will provide recommendations on whistle-blowers based on their role. We are still drafting the directive, hopefully it will be ready in August."

Patrialis, meanwhile, said his ministry would do all it could to strengthen the legal protection of whistle-blowers. "The ministry will push for the revision of the law to be included in the 2012 Prolegnas [National Legislation Program]," he said. "The president has also given a serious attention to this matter."

The Justice and Human Rights Ministry, Patrialis said, would also push for a revision of the Criminal Procedural Code to ensure whistle-blowers received special treatment in court. Abdul said the LPSK was in the process of seeking leniency for the whistle-blower in the Miranda Goeltom Bank Indonesia bribery scandal.

The man who went public in the case, Agus Condro Prayitno, a former lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), is serving a 15-month jail sentence for accepting a bribe in exchange for voting for Miranda as a Bank Indonesia deputy governor in 2004.

"He has requested to be detained somewhere close to his family, which is in Central Java," Abdul said. "We have also frequently conveyed our recommendations to the Justice and Human Rights Ministry for a remission."