WEEKLY SUMMARY:
 

Monday, July 27, 2015

Two Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) activist were questioned by the Police Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) in relation to a defamation case reported by Romli Atmasasmita. Anti-corruption activists argue that this case is a pure journalistic dispute that should not be settled in a criminal court.

Two opposing petition went online regarding the Head of Bareskrim, Budi Waseso – one calling for his dismissal and the other supporting him in his position. The petition calling him to step down as Head of Bareskrim collected 18,242 signatures, while the one supporting him garnered only 3,749 votes.

Two commissioners from the Judicial Commission (KY) was named as suspect by Bareskrim in another defamation case reported by Sarpin Rizaldi.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) again examined Governor of North Sumatera, Gatot Pujo Nugroho, in relation to a bribery case for judges and clerks at Medan Administrative Court, which had also implicated famous lawyer OC Kaligis.

OC Kaligis filed a pretrial appeal against KPK.
 

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Budi Waseso admitted there was no presidential instruction to name KY commissioners as suspects. Previously, he claimed that President Joko Widodo instructed Bareskrim to will speed up investigation on the commissioners immediately after the Ied holidays.

Bareskrim will coordinate with the Press Board to follow up on the defamation case against two ICW activists as reported by Romli Atmasasmita.

Sutan Bhatoegana was charged with 11 years imprisonment and a fine of Rp 500 million, or six months additional jail time. KPK attorneys also demanded the Corruption Court to revoke his political rights to vote and be elected to public office for three years.

The first pretrial hearing filed by former President Director of State Electricity (PLN) Dahlan Iskan against Jakarta Attorney General took place at South Jakarta District Court. His lawyers disputed the naming of Dahlan as suspect by Bareskrim on June 5, 2015.

As the second day of Round 3 of the KPK selection process concluded, the Selection Committee for KPK leadership (Pansel KPK) completed a series of profile assessment focusing on candidates personality and proficiency, including English, in order to find candidates with physical endurance, loyalty, integrity and fortitude, and with no risk of being exploited or criminalized.
 

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

KPK named Governor of North Sumatera Gatot Pujo Nugroho and his wife Evi Susanti as suspects in an alleged bribery for the judges and clerks of Medan Administrative Court (PTUN Medan).

Attorney General's Office (AGO) had named more suspects in a corruption of broadcast-ready program procurement at LPP TVRI during the fiscal year 2015, now implicating 5 names.

Dasep, Director of PT Sarimas Ahmadi Pratama, the engineer of electric cars manufacturing was arrested by AGO.
 

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Jakarta Metro Police will examine the General Director of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Commerce, Partogi Pangaribuan, as witness to bribery and gratification for a loading and unloading permit of goods at the port.

KPK will aggravate criminal charges on lawyer OC Kaligis who is uncooperative during investigation.

Bareskrim planned to question representatives of the Press Board to clarify the position and involvement of the media regarding the alleged defamation case as reported by Romli Atmasasmita.

The High Court of Southeast Sulawesi (Kejati Sultra) confiscate proceeds of corruption amounting to Rp1,650 billion. The money was gathered from various corruption cases in the province.
 

Friday, July 31, 2015

Two ICW activists were questioned as witnesses for the second time by Bareskrim to clarify the defamation case reported by Romli Atmasasmita.

The Police will examine 18 other ministries involved in the bureaucracy of import permits issued by the Ministry of Commerce. These examination is related to police investigation on bribery and gratification for loading and unloading (dwelling) permit at Tanjung Priok Port.

The Police confiscated Rp 69 billion worth of money related to the 2012-2014 rice field project in Ketapang, West Kalimantan.

The first hearing session for the pretrial appeal filed by OC Kaligis will take place on August 10, 2015, in order to examine legality in KPK's decision to name him as a suspect.

KEY DEVELOPMENT
 

July 27

• ICW activists attend Bareskrim subpoena
• Petition for dismissal of Budi Waseso received 18,242 signatures
• KY Commissioners attend Bareskrim subpoena
• OC Kaligis filed pretrial appeal against KPK

July 28

• KPK probe involvement of Gatot and Evi in bribery of judges in Medan
• Bareskrim called to drop case involving KY commissioners
• Bareskrim schedule questioning of two suspects in corruption of state condensate sales
• Pansel KPK complete third round selection to find qualified KPK leaders

July 29

• Gatot and Evi named as suspects in bribery of judges in Medan
• Pansel KPK submit names of commissioner candidates to KPK for tracking
• Ahok questioned by Bareskrim as witness in UPS case

July 30

• Partogi Pangaribuan questioned as witness in bribery and gratification on port dwelling permit
• Press Board questioned by Bareskrim in defamation case
• Sulawesi Tenggara High Court confiscate proceeds of corruption amounting to Rp 1,650 billion

July 31

• Again, ICW activists questioned as witnesses by Bareskrim
• Police will examine 18 ministries related bribery and and gratification on port dwelling permit
• Police probe role of Dahlan Iskan as initiator of rice field project in Ketapang

IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS
 

A Threat on Our Democracy

A recent ruling by the Constitutional Court (MK) that allows former convicts of corruption to come forward as candidates for heads and deputy heads of provinces and districts in the upcoming simultaneous regional elections had started a controversy and fueled a heated national debate.

Several political parties, including the National Democrat (Nasdem), condemned the ruling since they were among a faction in the House of Representatives (DPR) that pushed to prohibit nomination of former corruption convicts as regional leaders which was enacted in the Law on Regional Election (UU Pilkada). However, MK annulled the restriction with the argument of being a manifestation of a citizen's constitutional rights and provide space for ex-convicts to be elected as public officials.
(http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2015/07/10/02000021/MK.Anulir.Larangan.Mantan.Narapidana.Ikut.Pilkada).

MK insisted that the 1945 Constitution prohibits any Law to revoke a citizen's right to vote and to be elected, and only allows a limited restriction. This restriction depend on two factors, first of which is the subject's public statement proclaiming herself/himself as a former convict. If the she/he failed to make such statement then the second restriction would apply, where the citizen will regain the right to vote and be elected after five years since she/he completed the court sentence. MK is confident that the public will wisely determine whether an ex-convict should be elected or not.

Indeed, MK's ruling might encompass a universal truth within a democratic climate where no citizen should be denied the right to vote or to be elected inasmuch a she/he is not serving a sentence for a criminal offense. Nonetheless, this particular ruling is not grounded on historical and factual context, considering the volatile state of democracy in Indonesia. The citizen have not developed political maturity due to poor level of education and economy among the majority. In the meantime, political parties are ruled by oligarchies backed with enormous material power that enabled them to steer the party's direction, policies and interests. Studies conducted by various group even concluded that the (procedural) democracy in Indonesia has been hijacked by non-democratic actors.

One might say that it would be too early to draw such a conclusion since, in fact, the direct election system in Indonesia have also spawned a few qualified heads of regions. Basuki Cahaya Purnama (Ahok) in Jakarta, Ridwan Kamil in Bandung, or Ibu Risma in Surabaya, would prove this argument. Regardless, these examples are not nearly enough to generalize the regional election phenomenon in Indonesia, because the sheer amount of provinces and districts throughout Indonesia is simply much larger than those three encouraging examples that have too often provide reference. One would find more realistic outlook when referring to MK's rulings on electoral disputes where most of the verdicts exhibits massive practices of money politics, with systematical and structural violations conducted by the candidates.

Money politics is still considered to be the surefire way to achieve electoral victory due to the permissive demeanor of voters. Money politics is also chosen since it's almost impossible for law enforcement agencies to take legal action against these practices. If a case of money politics is eventually indicted, only the field operator would be implicated, the agents who were caught red handed distributing money to voters, instead of the owners or the mastermind behind the scheme.

Under this situation, these former convicts of corruption are confident that they can win any electoral competition, as long as they have the necessary financial footing. Alas, MK's ruling might be true in one side, but it also can spur the decay of democracy on the other.***
 

The Season of Defamation

Lately, the National Police Criminal Investigation Unit (Bareskrim) are keeping their hands full with defamation investigations against anti-corruption activists. This week alone, Bareskrim held numerous questionings. First, the examination of Judicial Commission (KY) commissioners Suparman Marzuki and Taufiqurrahman Syahuri (July 27), both of whom were later named as suspects in an alleged defamation case reported by a judge at South Jakarta District Court, Sarpin Rizaldi.

The next case is the examination of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) activists, Adnan Topan Husodo and Emerson Yuntho (July 27 and 31), based on a defamation report filed by Professor of Law from Universitas Padjadjaran, Romli Atmasasmita, on May 21. His report did not only target ICW activists, but also KPK advisor Said Zainal Abidin. Romli feels that all three committed libel against him in the media, including Kompas, Tempo and The Jakarta Post.

The news coverage in this case were actually comments by news sources that sought to remind the President to carefully consider the weight of the decisions when appointing the Selection Committee (Pansel) for Leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). The public had high hopes that the new Pansel will not incorporate “Pro-Corruptor Academics”, scholars who defend and testify for suspects and convicts of corruption. Although ICW never mentioned his name, Romli felt that this news coverage attacked his person.

If such coverage could actually incriminate individuals who provide commentary to news outlets as sources, then an extremely worrisome time for democracy in Indonesia has dawned. In the case involving KY commissioners, it would be incredibly debilitating if public officials could be held criminally liable based on their public comments. A society can only progress if its people have the right to free speech, and providing commentary. It's an integral part of the journey towards a mature democracy.

Persecuting news sources with defamation charges could also further erode public confidence in the Police Force. This was immediately showcased with the mass of petitioners demanding the dismissal of Bareskrim Chief, Commissioner General Budi Waseso. As of Friday, July 31, the petition had garnered more than 19,000 signatures athttps://www.change.org/p/pak-jokowi-copot-kabareskrim-budi-waseso-copotbuwas

The petition notes a wide-spread and worrying trend: at least 49 anti-corruption fighters had been reported on a range of criminal charges. Four of these are KPK and KY commissioners. The principal charges are often trivial, such as ID card administration or defamation charges.

On the defamation charges, Agus Sudibyo from the Indonesian Television Academy explained that when a statement by a sourceperson is quoted in a news report, a transition from personal space towards the journalistic realm occurs. After this transition, the personal accountability of the sourceperson regarding her/his statement is replaced by the editorial institutional responsibility of the media (Kompas, 24/7).

Accordingly, if the dispute in question is of a journalistic nature, then the settlement should be facilitated through the journalistic dispute mechanism as regulated by Law No 40/1999 about the Press. Ideally, the Police Force, as public servants should be impartial and utilize such mechanisms, specifically designed for the purpose, as underlined by the Memorandum of Understanding that the Police and the Press Board have signed.

President Joko Widodo, as the ultimate authority in enforcing the law, should take a stand to avoid a backsliding of the rule of law to the pre-reformasi ages. In the old days, critical voices were silenced and incriminated with subversive acts. In President Jokowi's time, these voices are silenced and incriminated with defamation articles.***