Rabby Pramudatama, Jakarta – Loopholes in existing laws have helped state officials in several regions to maintain their strategic position despite their status as graft convicts, ministers have said.

According to Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi, this year alone as many as 474 regional administration officials have been implicated in legal cases mostly graft scandals. Among the 474 officials, Gamawan said, 330 have been convicted, 49 are currently awaiting trial and 95 others have been named as suspects.

"I am still updating the data, I believe the number could increase up to 1,000 cases by the end of the week," Gamawan told reporters during a monthly discussion initiated by the Law and Human Rights Ministry on Tuesday.

Gamawan acknowledged that despite their status as convicts, defendants or suspects, many officials still retain their positions. The minister, however, refused to be held responsible for the phenomena.

"Actually, it is not my responsibility to appoint officials for structural positions in the regions. It's the responsibility of the head of the region," he said.

In addition, Law and Human Rights Minister Amir Syamsudin criticized the heads of regional administrations for keeping those with criminal records in their posts. Amir likened the regional heads to lawyers, who often seek loopholes in the laws.

For instance, he said, article 23 of the 1999 Law on public officials stipulates that civil servants can be discharged from their position if he or she broke their vow or were involved in criminal activity. He said that the phrase "can be" is enough room for people to interpret the law as not imperative, when in fact it is.

Among the many government officials with criminal records who still retain their jobs, the most notable in the spotlight recently are Azirwan, a former graft convict who had headed the Bintan Enterprises Agency in Riau Island province.

Another official is the governor of Bengkulu, Agusrin Maryono Najamudin, who keeps his position as governor under the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN) order, despite being convicted in graft case.

Emerson Yuntho from the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said that there was no excuse for graft convicts to retain their position; they should have been sacked instead. "The ones who misinterpret the public official law have meant to cheat the true principal of the law," he said.

He said firstly, the government official who has been found guilty for corruption has clearly violated the vow uttered during their inauguration, which means that he or she should be discharged from their position.

Secondly, especially in the Azirwan case, it has been clearly stipulated in article 20 of the Law on public officials that the one appointed for a structural position in the regional administration should be a civil servant who has a history of good achievements, he added.

"I don't understand how we can say someone has good achievements if, for example, the last three months of their life was spent in jail," Emerson said.