Ridwan Max Sijabat, Jakarta – Anti-corruption activists and experts have said a decision to acquit former councilors from graft charges in a case review will set a bad precedent in handling similar cases in the future.
Spokesman for the Coalition of Anti-corruption Non-Governmental Organizations, Adnan Topan Husodo, said in a press conference Thursday the decision indicated the Supreme Court and the Attorney General's Office were not committed to the fight against corruption.
"The Supreme Court's decision will give chances to many other public officials who are facing corruption charges under the already-annulled 2000 government regulation on regions' financial composition," he said.
The 10 former council members were charged with misusing Rp 1.3 billion (US$144,000) from the Cirebon Municipal Legislative Council in 2000.
The Cirebon District Court acquitted the former councilors of charges in 2004 after they were found not guilty of embezzling the budget funds. Prosecutors then appealed to the Supreme Court, which later dealt the councilors prison sentences of between two and four years.
The 10, however, requested the case be reopened by the Supreme Court, which then decided they could not be brought to justice.
The Supreme Court held that the regulation under which the 10 were charged had already been annulled and that the wrongdoings committed by the former councilors were not specified in the 1999 Anti-Corruption Law.
The review was conducted by a panel of justices presided over by Justice Iskandar Kamil.
Adnan said Chief Justice Bagir Manan and Attorney General Abdurrahman Saleh had deceived the public because they pledged to ignore the annulment of the government regulation and settle all corruption cases, which occurred before the regulation was annulled.
Saldi Isra, a constitutional law expert from the Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra, said the Supreme Court's decision was a setback in the national war on corruption.
"Many corruptors facing charges in other regions will be released and the Supreme Court's decision will indirectly encourage public officials to abuse their power," he said.
Deny Indrayana, a political analyst at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, said he regretted the Supreme Court's decision, adding that corruptors were fighting back and that the judicial system still remained corrupt.