Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) promised Friday to move to take over the investigation into a huge loan scandal, as the government weighed in on the debate.
The move came following intense public pressure on the KPK to take over the investigation into the embezzlement of Bank Indonesia liquidity support (BLBI) funds, formerly handled by the Attorney General's Office (AGO), which has been plagued by corruption.
"It is a good move if the KPK will really take over the BLBI case because the commission has extraordinary powers that the AGO doesn't have. The government will certainly support it," Vice President Jusuf Kalla told the press at his office Friday.
Pressure to take over the investigation, which caused trillions in state losses, intensified after the conviction of AGO prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan for corruption.
Urip, who headed the BLBI investigation, was sentenced by the Corruption Court to 20 years in jail for accepting a US$660,000 bribe from businesswoman Artalyta Suryani to stop the BLBI investigation into tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim. Artalyta was jailed for five years for the same charge.
Urip and Artalyta were arrested by the KPK on March 2, 2008, two days after the AGO dropped the BLBI cases against Sjamsul and another tycoon Anthony Salim.
KPK chairman Antasari Azhar said his office would discuss the BLBI takeover after the post-Ramadan festival of Idul Fitri.
"After this Lebaran (Idul Fitri), we will do that. I will coordinate with the attorney general. If they have thrown in the towel, we will step in," he told Antara news agency in Dili, Timor Leste.
Antasari, accompanied by his deputy of prosecutions Chandra M. Hamzah and KPK director of networking development Sujanarko, was in Dili to discuss Timor Leste's plan to set up a similar anti-graft body.
In a joint declaration last Monday, a number of House of Representatives and Regional Representative Council (DPD) members demanded the KPK immediately take over investigations into the huge loan scandal. They said the KPK had no excuse to delay taking over the case from the AGO following Urip's conviction.
The members said the court's verdict showed there were many problems with the AGO's investigation, adding that dozens of reports and studies had concluded that the scandal caused state losses worth hundreds of trillions of rupiah.
Last Wednesday, AGO spokesman Jasman Pandjaitan said the KPK could take over the BLBI probe after coordinating with his office to discuss it. "So the KPK cannot just take it over, but it must be conducted through the appropriate mechanism," Jasman was quoted by Antara as saying.
Urip's conviction also prompted a renewed call for the AGO to reverse its decision to drop the BLBI probe into Sjamsul. Attorney General Hendarman Supandji insisted the guilty verdict against Urip did not constitute new evidence for the AGO to reopen the case.
Last Thursday, assistant attorney general for special crimes Marwan Effendi said Urip's conviction would not affect the AGO's decision to close the case. "With or without Urip, bribes or no bribes, the AGO can't continue," he said.
Marwan said reopening the investigation into Sjamsul's involvement in the case would conflict with several regulations including the 2003 presidential decree on debtors.
The decree, issued by then president Megawati Soekarnoputri, stipulates that a cooperative debtor deserves a letter of settlement and will not be charged for violating the law.
Based on the 2000 law on national development, the BLBI case should be settled out of court, he said.