Muninggar Sri Saraswati, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Friday that the government was focusing its antigraft efforts on the prevention of corruption in the future rather than pursuing graft cases that took place in the past.
"I am concentrating more on preventative measures for the future. If we only look to the past, it means delving into things that are far from certain. We would be better off preventing mega corruption cases from recurring in the future," he told governors at a meeting of the Indonesian Provincial Administrations Association (APPSI) in Jakarta.
Susilo asked the governors to support his soon-to-be-issued national action plan to combat corruption, as well as a recently issued presidential instruction designed to accelerate the antigraft effort.
Citing his recent meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and parliamentarians, Susilo said they had stressed the need not to focus on the past as to do so would prove to be extremely complex. "But Turkey is successful, and is firm against corruption," he added.
The President also said that the antigraft movement should not become tainted with "political motives".
He said that differences in political thinking between the present government and past governments should not be used as an excuse to victimize past officeholders. Asked to elaborate, presidential spokesman Andi Mallarengeng said the government was determined to prevent corruption in the future through the creation of a deterrent effect.
"The graft cases currently being handled by the authorities, such as those involving Nurdin Halid and Adrian Waworuntu, will proceed. But a case like that of Pak Harto will not be pursued as it has already been taken to court," he said.
Andi was referring to former president Soeharto, who briefly stood trial for graft in the South Jakarta District Court. The case came to an abrupt halt, however, after the court in a controversial ruling found Soeharto unfit to stand trial for health reasons.
Andi said the government would leave any decision whether or not to pursue a past corruption case up to the Attorney General's Office. However, he said the government would not hesitate to prosecute serving government officials suspected of stealing state funds.
On Thursday, the President approved a request by prosecutors request to question Blitar, East Java, Regent Imam Muhadi as a suspect in a corruption case. He also gave the police the go-ahead to summon Temanggung, Central Java, Regent Totok Ary Prabowo as a witness in a similar case.
Since coming to power in October last year, the President has given his consent for the questioning of 37 state officeholders and legislators on suspicions of graft.
Susilo said that a number of governors had asked him not to readily issue permits for the police and prosecutors to question local administration chief executives as they feared this would irreparably tarnish their images, even if the charges were eventually thrown out in court.
"I listen to their calls. But I will continue to give my written consent. I have explicitly told the police and prosecutors that they must only question suspects if there are strong indications of corruption," he added.
The President urged law enforcers to seriously consider the consequences before laying graft charges. "Should some apparent irregularities have occurred in the use of funds due to erroneous interpretations of policies or regulations, do not immediately conclude it is corruption without first conducting a thorough examination," Susilo said.