Heru Andriyanto – Viciously criticized for his office's inept, and at times controversial, handling of some of the country's biggest criminal cases, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji said this month that he planned to cut about 3,000 positions from the Attorney General's Office in an attempt to make prosecutors work more effectively.
The AGO currently has a staff of about 9,300, and Hendarman said top prosecutors had agreed to streamline the organization by cutting down on the number of high-level posts across all divisions. He said he hoped a presidential decree on the matter would be issued before Jan. 16.
Since taking over at the AGO in the middle of 2007, Hendarman has spent much of his time defending his office from public criticism following a series of scandals.
Most recently, prosecutors drew fire after they brought criminal charges against two antigraft deputy commissioners. They were eventually forced to drop the charges amid indications that the case had been fabricated.
One of Hendarman's own deputies, Abdul Hakim Ritonga, resigned after the Constitutional Court played recordings of phone conversations in which case brokers and elements within the AGO and the National Police discussed an apparent plot to bring down Corruption Eradication Commisson (KPK) deputies Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto.
While the police launched a reshuffle following the scandal, Hendarman refused to dismiss a former deputy attorney general for intelligence, Wisnu Subroto, whose voice featured in one of many memorable phone conversations played in court.
The scandal occurred less than two years after an AGO official was sentenced to 20 years in jail for accepting bribes from a businesswoman who sought to influence prosecutors' handling of a major embezzlement case involving tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim. The bribery case broke as a result of investigative work conducted by the antigraft commission.
Legal cherry-picking
In its head-to-head rivalry with the respected Corruption Eradication Commission, the AGO's antigraft campaign won notoriety for what was viewed as its selective approach to picking suspects: prosecuting the minions while letting the major players go.
In its handling of a major corruption scandal related to the joint operation of an online service at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, for example, the AGO arrested five suspects, including four former directors general and the former director of a private company who ran the Web site.
However, it turned a deaf ear to calls for the prosecution of Yusril Ihza Mahendra, the former justice minister, and business tycoon Hartono Tanoesoedibjo, who allegedly initiated the online service. During Hendarman's tenure, the AGO has dropped corruption charges against several high-profile suspects, including former central bank governor Soedradjad Djiwandono, former minister Laksamana Sukardi, businessman Tan Kian and Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the youngest son of Suharto, the late former president.
Hendarman says the answer is more money for prosecutors. He has publicly stated that budget constraints are the biggest stumbling block in his reform agenda, telling lawmakers last month that the AGO needed an annual budget of least Rp 10 trillion ($1.06 billion).
The office has a budget of Rp 1.9 trillion this year, with a requested additional Rp 500 billion never materializing.
With an average basic salary of Rp 3 million per month, prosecutors are highly susceptible to corruption, including the receiving of bribes, Hendarman told members of the House of Representatives' law commission. If the Rp 10 trillion budget was approved, a high-performing prosecutor could receive Rp 11 million per month thanks to incentives based on the merit system, the attorney general said.
Some critics, however, say Hendarman is the real problem. "Reform at the AGO will never attain its true meaning if Hendarman retains his post," said Emerson Yuntho, the deputy head of Indonesia Corruption Watch. "Hendarman has failed to turn the AGO into a credible law enforcement agency. Reform will never happen while he still leads the way.
"Hendarman recently appointed Darmono, a new deputy, to replace his old one, Ritonga. Why him? We all know Darmono comes from Hendarman's hometown," said Emerson, who along with fellow ICW member Illian Deta Arta Sari is currently a suspect in a defamation case filed against him by the AGO.
"The ICW had earlier called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to replace Hendarman in his second term. We stick by our stance," Emerson said.