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KPK's oversight of sentence cuts under threat

Jakarta Post - March 17, 2015

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Jakarta – Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly said Monday he was considering stripping the authority of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to decide on remission proposals for graft convicts.

The Indonesian Democratic of Struggle (PDI-P) politician said the antigraft body already had the power to prosecute and sentence corruption suspects, and that it would be "a big leap" to allow the body to retain its authority to decide whether a convict was eligible for remission.

"A judge hears the KPK's prosecution of a suspect and then sentences him. When later the convict applies for a sentence reduction, he or she has to gain a letter of acknowledgement for being a whistle-blower for the KPK. If the KPK declines to give the letter, [it] punishes the convict twice," Yasonna said at the State Palace on Monday.

Yasonna has unveiled a plan to revise a 2012 government regulation that introduced stricter remission requirements for drug, graft and terror convicts. The 2012 regulation requires a graft convict to fulfill two criteria before qualifying for a remission.

First, they must prove themselves as a justice collaborator, or a "whistle-blower", with a letter from the KPK. Second, they must pay back the state losses they caused as well as the fines imposed by the court.

Yasonna declined to respond to speculation that the revision plan on the regulation was aimed at making punishment for corruption convicts more lenient.

Instead, he said that he was proposing a maximum sentence reduction since existing regulations were unclear, adding that the government was open to other suggestions.

Despite the strict government regulation, several high profile convicts still managed to obtain remission or even parole during former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration.

Among those pardoned include the businesswoman Hartati Murdaya, a former Democratic Party patron board member, who was released in 2014 a little over a year after she was sentenced by the Jakarta Corruption Court to two years and eight months in prison for paying Rp 3 billion (US$309,000) in bribes to Amran Batalipu, the former regent of Buol in Central Sulawesi, to expedite the issuance of a business permit for her palm oil plantation company, PT Hardaya Inti Plantations.

KPK acting deputy chairman Johan Budi said the plan to revise the regulation was a setback in the fight against corruption. "[Easier sentence cutting procedure] goes against the spirit of eradicating corruption and would limit the deterrent effect on convicts," he said.

Johan said the antigraft body was not consulted by the government in discussions about the new regulation.

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/03/17/kpk-s-oversight-sentence-cuts-under-threat.html.