Hotman Siregar & Yustinus Paat, Jakarta – Indonesia Corruption Watch is urging newly inaugurated Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo to reform his office in a challenge to the former National Democratic Party, or NasDem, politician to prove his appointment was more than a "political gratuity."
Prasetyo is a career prosecutor who previously served as assistant attorney general for special crimes between 2005 and 2006 before quitting the Attorney General's Office to establish his own law firm.
He joined NasDem in 2011 and agreed to quit the party as a precondition of his appointment by President Joko Widodo. Prasetyo was inaugurated as attorney general last Thursday, just a few hours after Joko's meeting with NasDem chairman and media mogul Surya Paloh.
Antigraft activists have been quick to criticize Joko's decision. Over the weekend, ICW expressed skepticism that the AGO under Prasetyo would resolve pending graft cases.
"We at the ICW are very doubtful about corruption eradication in the future, especially now that the AGO is led by NasDem politician Prasetyo [sic], who didn't have a good track record while serving there," ICW member Agus Sunaryanto told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday.
"I think [Prasetyo's appointment] is merely a political gratuity by Jokowi to NasDem [...] Jokowi has abandoned the people's interest," he added.
Agus added that with Prasetyo already in charge, Joko had no other option but to set for the new attorney general "strict targets" that the AGO should attend to more closely. In particular, Agus said local graft cases, that seem to be appearing with increasing frequency, warranted greater care. In addition, Joko should also direct Prasetyo to reopen old cases abandoned by previous attorneys general, Agus said.
However, Joko must walk a fine line if he opts to follow the ICW's advice of directing the attorney general toward particular targets. Many observers would likely react with extreme concern at the prospect of undue interference in the judicial process and politically motivated prosecutions.
"[Prasetyo] must re-examine cases that have been abandoned [by the AGO]. He must deal with corruption cases without prejudice, and solve such cases quickly," Agus said.
On Sunday, ICW offered to-do list for Prasetyo that emphasized reforms to the prosecutors' ranks, as well as major human rights and corruption cases that the AGO has largely abandoned.
ICW's coordinator for legal and judiciary monitoring, Emerson Yuntho, said Prasetyo should begin with revising a regulation on career education for prosecutors. Emerson said this was responsible for the appointment of senior officials in the office without basis in merit.
"He also must discipline AGO employees, because many prosecutors have engaged in ethics violations, even corruption," Emerson said, adding that periodic performance evaluations were necessary.
ICW has identified 11 cases that have languished in the Attorney General's Office for years, which the group says Prasetyo must prioritize. Also on ICW's wish list are 102 regional graft cases, as well as gross rights violations surrounding the anti-communist crackdown of 1965-66; the Talangsari massacre in Lampung in 1989; extrajudicial killings by the military in the 1980s; and the so-called Trisakti and Semanggi tragedies of May 1998.
Former assistant attorney general for special crimes Ramelan has defended Prasetyo, saying his former political affiliation should not be used to judge him. Ramelan cited the case of Marzuki Darusman, the only non-career prosecutor appointed as the attorney general before Prasetyo. Marzuki, a Golkar Party politician, led the AGO from 1999 to 2001 under the late Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.
"Although many Golkar members were allegedly involved in the Bank Bali [corruption] case, as soon as he took office, he [Marzuki] immediately cracked down," Ramelan said on Monday. "He detained then-Bank Indonesia governor Syahril Sabirin, Djoko Tjandra [now a fugitive]...
"So this matter of neutrality really depends on the individuals. Can they leave behind their political background? "Can they be independent? It depends."