Adinda Putri, Jakarta – Indonesians are most often asked for bribes or illicit favors when dealing with the police and the courts, a survey revealed on Wednesday (15/11).

The survey, conducted by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI) on Aug. 16-22, involved 1,540 respondents in 34 provinces. It used multi-stage random sampling and had a 2.6 percent margin of error.

The result showed that of the 14.9 percent of respondents who have had dealings with the police, 46.1 percent alleged that they were asked for money or gifts.

Meanwhile, of the 3.1 percent of respondents who have had dealings with the courts, 39.6 percent were asked for illicit favors.

"The probability of acts of corruption in the public service is the biggest when Indonesians have to deal with the police and court officials," LSI director Kuskridho Ambardi said during a press conference in Jakarta.

Indonesia Corruption Watch coordinator Adnan Topan Husodo expressed concern over the result, saying that instead of being the law enforcers, the police and courts are the most corrupt.

"We cannot expect the law to work effectively if reforms of law enforcement agencies are not implemented," Adnan said.

The survey further showed that 31.3 percent of civil servants, 26.9 percent of public administration officials, 15.1 percent of health service workers, 14.4 percent of public school administrators or teachers and 11.7 percent of university officials also demanded favors from the public.

The World Economic Forum's 2015-16 Global Competitiveness Report indicated that Indonesia's efforts to tackle corruption were starting to pay off, with the country "improving on almost all measures related to bribery and ethics."

However, Indonesia still ranked 90th out of 176 countries in Transparency International's annual Corruption Perception Index last year, on par with nations such as Liberia and Colombia.

The Indonesian government has been making serious efforts, aided by community organizations, to combat corruption since the fall of the country's second leader, Suharto, in 1998.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/indonesians-say-police-court-officials-most-corrupt-survey/