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Did political motivation spare Bogor district chief of a dishonorable dismissal?
Jakarta Globe - December 19, 2014
A letter issued by Minister Tjahjo Kumolo on Nov. 25, and made public only this week, states that Rachmat Yasin, who was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in jail for the fraudulent issuance of permits to clear a protected forest, has received an honorable dismissal, so he will still be entitled to a lifetime pension and other benefits, despite leaving office as a convicted criminal.
Critics have questioned the decision by the minister, who is from President Joko Widodo's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, which counts the United Development Party – of which Rachmat is a member – as part of PDI-P's coalition partners in the House of Representatives.
"This is very different from the treatment given to the Banten governor [Ratu Atut Chosiyah] and the former Riau governor [Rusli Zainal]," Achmad Hidayat, an anti-corruption activist from the UIKA Legal Aid Foundation (LBH-UIKA) in Bogor, said on Thursday.
Atut was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison in September for attempting to bribe the country's top judge to rig an election result, while Rusli was sentenced in November to 14 years by the Supreme Court, after a lower court handed him a 10-year sentence.
He was convicted of taking bribes to issue forestry permits and of handing out kickbacks to provincial councilors to expedite a bylaw for the building of infrastructure for the 2012 National Games.
The Home Affairs Ministry has issued a dishonorable dismissal for both officials, who are from the opposition Golkar Party. Achmad said it was a "heavy blow" for the people of Bogor to see Rachmat get off lightly and have him allowed to keep his perks after defrauding the district.
"Was this decision based on a political power play or the letter of the law? It severely tarnishes the president's image because it's a blunder in dealing with a corruption convict," he said.
Uchok Sky Khadafi, a political financing expert at the Indonesian Forum for Budget Transparency, or Fitra, said the move by Tjahjo was just the latest in a series of incidents strengthening the impression that the Joko administration was weak on fighting corruption.
"This is the first time that any administration has given an honorable dismissal to a public official who has been convicted of corruption," he said on Thursday. "Why would the home affairs minister do this?"
Under Indonesian law, a public official can receive an honorable dismissal only if they leave office through death, illness, incapacitation or resignation.
Rachmat was indicted on Sept. 16, and he tendered his resignation on Sept. 20. Tjahjo's approval of his resignation and an honorable dismissal came on Nov. 25, two days before the verdict in his trial was due.
The timing spared Rachmat from a dishonorable dismissal, but Achmad said the fact that the former district chief had already been indicted by that point obviated any chance of an honorable dismissal.
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