Efforts to downgrade the Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) authority have intensified, with state officials, rather than corruptors, pioneering moves to strip away its wiretapping and prosecution powers. After the police took the KPK's wiretapping recordings of murder victim Nasruddin Zulkarnaen and his wife Rhani Juliani prior to the killing, leading to the questioning of KPK commissioner Chandra Hamzah late last month and sparking public debate on the legality of such wiretapping, high-ranking state officials have now come forward to the public, confessing they have also been bugged by the graft body. The National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen Susno Duadji and Finance Ministry's director general for loan management Rahmat Waluyanto expressed their irritation that the KPK had bugged them, prompting accusations that the public statements of both officials aimed only to reveal more KPK wiretapping misuses. "We should only bug those involved in big crimes rather than a police officer, let alone the national police chief of detectives," Susno told reporters. Rahmat revealed the KPK had also bugged him and other director generals at the Finance Ministry. Susno admitted he was been bugged in connection with Bank Century-Antaboga case, which is now under police investigation. Speculation has circulated in the media that the KPK, which has successfully used wiretapping to solve many cases, which has lead to the arrests of a number of legislators and high-ranking officials, has recorded conversations of Susno asking for payment in connection with a transfer of US$18 million from Bank Century to Antaboga. Susno denied such accusations, saying he deliberately mislead those who taped him. After the police and finance ministry officials publicly criticized the KPK, Attorney General Hendarman Supandji blasted wiretapping in cases he considered trivial, such as the Rhani-Nasruddin tapping. "We don't bug people due to their romantic relationships." Nasruddin's murder is suspected to have been motivated by a love triangle between him, KPK suspended chief Antasari, and Rhani. Antasari was declared the main suspect in the case. According to the law, only the KPK, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the police have the authority to wiretap. Last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono even issued a warning on the overwhelming power of the KPK, and the possibility it could be misused. As discourse on the KPK's extraordinary authority heated up, the government proposed a corruption court bill to the House of Representatives, limiting the KPK's power only to investigate, and allowing the AGO to prosecute the corruption cases, beside revoking its wiretapping. "There are so many public officials who are afraid of this authority because many corruption cases are successfully brought to the court because of it," Teten Masduki Secretary General of Transparency International Indonesia said. Febri Diansyah from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) suspected officials who were now said to be tapped by the KPK, were involved in a corruption case. She mentioned the case allegedly involving Susno and Bank Century-Antaboga.
Author: Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post
Author: Irawaty Wardany, The Jakarta Post
