Irawaty Wardany, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has won praise for his tough stance against corruption, but a newly drafted antigraft bill reveals the opposite, a discussion heard Sunday.

Speakers at the forum said the corruption court bill, which is being debated at the House of Representatives, would reduce the authority of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), despite the fact extra powers handed to the commission have led to the arrest and prosecution of people known as "the untouchables" in the past.

"The latest antigraft bill drafted in August last year reduced the authority of the KPK to investigation only," Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) coordinator for legal and court monitoring, Illian Deta Arta Sari, said, in reference to Article 30 (2) of the bill.

The limitation is strengthened by Article 31 of the bill, which says investigation, prosecution and hearing of corruption cases are conducted according to Criminal Procedure Code Law, rather than the corruption court law. "There lies the problem; Criminal Procedure Code Law says the National Police are responsible for investigation, while the Attorney General's Office is responsible for prosecution," said Hasril Hertanto, the executive director of the Indonesian Judiciary Supervisory Community (MAPPI) at the University of Indonesia.

Hasril said the antigraft bill contradicted the 2002 law on the KPK, which stipulates the commission has the authority to investigate and prosecute corruption suspects.

"The KPK could face lawsuits for arresting or investigating graft cases because once the bill takes effect, all corruption eradication efforts should refer to this bill," he said.

Former director of investigation at the Attorney General's Office (AGO) Khairul Imam opposed the pessimistic view. He said it was not a big deal if the KPK's authority was limited to investigation, as long as they conducted it seriously.