Agus Maryono, Purwokerto – Corruption cases in Central Java should be curbed with extraordinary measures by imposing death sentences for convicts, a local lecturer suggested.
Lecturer Ahmad Rofik from Jenderal Sudirman University's School of Social and Political Sciences sees the phenomenon as an indication of a lack of seriousness in the administration's efforts in coping with corruption cases in their respective regions.
"This is also the result of the selective handling of corruption cases; making corrupt officials who politically feel safe to continue committing corruption practices," Ahmad told The Jakarta Post recently.
He responded to a report by the Central Java Corruption, Collusion and Nepotism Investigation and Eradication Committee (KP2KKN), which revealed only two of 35 regencies in the province were considered corruption-free.
Ahmad blamed the condition on the loss of shame and empathy among corrupt administration officials. "This can only be dealt with by extraordinary decisions, such as death sentences for corruptors," he said.
KP2KKN said in its year-end reports that graft cases mostly involved important officials, including regents. Two regencies considered as having been free of corrupt practices are Purbalingga and Blora. Both have not reported any corruption cases.
"This is what we have collected in our 2011 year-end reports as a form of our public accountability in fighting against corruption," KP2KKN secretary Eko Haryanto told the Post earlier this week.
Quoting the reports, Eko said that among the 33 regional administrations, the Semarang municipal administration had been seen as the most corrupt based on 2011 findings, with 11 cases.
Salatiga municipality follows with eight corruption cases and Sukoharjo with seven.
Eko said that the committee found a total of 102 corruption cases in Central Java this year. "This is deplorable. The existence of the KPK [Corruption Eradication Commission] and Tipikor [corruption courts] in regions did not look to be deterring corrupt officials and giving chilling effects upon them," he said.
In average, with the exception of Purbalingga and Blora, each regency/municipality has three corruption cases involving top officials. The regency/municipal budgets were reported to have so far been the main sources of corrupt practices. "The 102 cases have caused a combined Rp 142 billion in state losses," Eko said.
In term of the amount embezzled, according to Eko, Sragen regency is ranked first with a total of Rp 29.3 billion from the regency budget through six different corruption cases. Karanganyar and Salatiga follow with corruption cases worth Rp 25 billion and Rp 20 billion respectively.
In term of sectors being corrupted, Eko said the three biggest sources of corruption are infrastructures (35 cases), social aid (25 cases) and regional budgets (22 cases).
Eko also said that of the 102 cases, 62 percent were still under investigation, 14 percent were being tried in court and the remaining 24 had been concluded. Of the cases, 82 percent were handled by the prosecutors' offices, 16 by the police and only 2 percent by the KPK.
"We do hope the KPK will be more active in the future because the integrity of other institutions, including the prosecutors' offices, the police and corruption courts is in doubt in dealing with corruption cases. Public distrust is partly triggered by the easy acquittance of corruption suspects," Eko said.