Rizky Amelia, Jakarta – Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) pledged on Friday to help Australian authorities investigate an alleged international corruption scandal implicating two subsidiaries of the Australian central bank and authorities in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
The commitment from the KPK comes after Wikileaks on Tuesday revealed the Supreme Court of Victoria had issued an injunction on June 19 that prevented Australian media from reporting on corruption allegations related to Note Printing Australia (NPA) and Securency International, two subsidiaries of the Reserve Bank of Australia.
The gag order followed the secret June 19 indictment of seven senior executives from NPA and Securency concerning allegations of multi-million dollar bribes made in order to secure contracts for the supply of Australian-style polymer bank notes in several countries, including Indonesia.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, former president Megawati Soekarnoputri and Laksamana Sukardi, the State Enterprise Minister in Megawati's administration, were listed in the court order, which also mentioned the current and former heads of states of Malaysia and Vietnam.
"The KPK must be ready and is now preparing itself if the Australian government supplies data and preliminary information regarding the corruption allegations," KPK deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto told the Jakarta Globe in a text message on Friday.
Yudhoyono on Thursday held a press conference demanding Canberra be transparent in order to clear things up. "The Wikileaks information... has tainted my good image and that of Ibu Mega," Yudhoyono told reporters.
"I really hope and I want the Australian government and authorities to open and reveal as clearly as possible the legal [case]."
The Australian embassy in Indonesia issued a statement on Thursday saying that even though Yudhoyono and Megawati were named in the court order it did not "imply wrongdoing on their part."
Yudhoyono said on Thursday that Australian authorities should work with the KPK to investigate the matter, but the corruption watchdog must further study the case before making any official statements or taking action.
KPK spokesman Johan Budi said that the anti-graft czar had never conducted a joint investigation with another country and, if it took place, it would be a first. "So far there has not been a [joint] investigation like that," Johan said on Friday.