Novy Lumanauw & Ezra Sihite, Jakarta – Newly appointed Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo vowed to restore the public's trust in his office, which many have dubbed as one of the most corrupt institutions in the country.

"People's expectation towards law enforcement agencies are so big, on the other hand, people's trust towards the prosecutors' office is so low," he said on Friday.

"This is a challenge. We must rise from this bad image [of the prosecutors' office]. There are still many shortcomings but we will meet people's expectations as quickly as possible."

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) had been hit with several graft allegations, most notoriously, the arrest of senior prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan in 2008 by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for accepting $660,000 in bribes from a businesswoman.

The AGO was rocked by another graft case when former tax official Gayus Tambunan admitted to bribing several prosecutors to stop his embezzlement and tax fraud case.

The prosecutors' office is also notorious for halting major cases involving big businesses or well-connected politicians, prompting suspicions of foul play causing public trust towards the law enforcement body to dwindle.

Several antigraft groups on Friday challenged the former National Democratic Party (NasDem) politician to prove his appointment was more than a "political gratuity."

Prasetyo is a career prosecutor who previously served as assistant attorney general for general crimes between 2005 and 2006 before quitting the Attorney General's Office to establish his own law firm.

He joined NasDem in 2011 and agreed to quit the party as a precondition of his appointment by President Joko Widodo.

Prasetyo was inaugurated as attorney general last Thursday, just a few hours after Joko's meeting with NasDem chairman and media mogul Surya Paloh.

Antigraft activists have been quick to criticize Joko's decision. Indonesia Corruption Watch expressed skepticism on Friday that the AGO under Prasetyo would resolve pending graft cases.

"The first [task] is to optimize the handling of corruption cases, particularly those involving high profile corruptors both at the national or local level," ICW researcher Emerson Yuntho said.

Prasetyo, he said, must reopen cases halted by his predecessors and retrieve uncollected fines and compensation from graft convicts.

The new attorney general should also increase prosecutors' roles in civil cases and as the country's representatives at international arbitration court against tax evaders, fugitives and rogue businesses which have caused the state massive losses.

Prasetyo "must complete these anti-corruption programs in the next 100 days. This will test Prasetyo's courage," Emerson said. "If he fails in the next 100 days, Prasetyo should resign as attorney general and President Joko should appoint a more able person."

The ICW warned Prasetyo that local graft cases, which seem to be appearing with increasing frequency, warranted greater care.

Prasetyo said the AGO had done a good job at prosecuting corruption cases, adding that this year there had been 1,270 cases handled by prosecutors across the country. "This is quite a lot. But a lot of people don't know about this because we haven't published this data," he said.

This year alone the Attorney General's Office had saved Rp 492 billion ($40 million) in state losses from the corruption cases it handled, Prasetyo said.

Antigraft and human rights groups have identified cases that have languished in the Attorney General's Office for years, including the gross rights violations surrounding the anti-communist crackdown of 1965-66; the Talangsari massacre in Lampung in 1989; extra-judicial killings by the military in the 1980s; and the so-called Trisakti and Semanggi tragedies of May 1998.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/news/prasetyo-on-mission-to-clean-agos-image/