"The reason for this is simple. The police and the prosecutors, who have been engaged for too long in the handling corruption cases in Indonesia prior to the establishment of KPK, could not combat corruption effectively and in fact, the results often hurt the feelings of the people in general," stated Sofjan, in a telephonic interview with Antara here, on Monday.
Hence, it should not be a problem for the police and prosecutors to be under the supervision of KPK especially in the wake of fight against corruption in the country.
Prof Dr Sofjan Siregar, who is also the rector of the European Islamic University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, stressed that there are several points that should be taken into account in the handling of corruption cases, in the future.
Firstly, the Corruption, Collaboration and Nepotism (CCN)-related cases should be settled within a 1.5 years. If the legal enforcers fail to do so, they should be subject to punishment.
Secondly, in the context of the publicly-discussed issues, the cases should not be seen from its quantity, but must be seen from the quality as evidences. This means that the proof and arguments must be based on the weight of the case and not only on the quantity.
Furthermore, he stressed that thirdly, the process of case-file to the higher country should be applied on account of the misuse of this terminology designed to preserve the power of corruptors.
Fourthly, in the context of convicts already sentenced on a corruption charge, there should be no discrimination in terms of rooms and facilities.
Such a corruptor with a total value of plunder amounting to over Rp1 trillion should be treated at par with a terrorist convict, he stated.
Touching on the time-dragged Bank Century case and the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI), he opined that the Century case should be settled before the general election, while BLBI case is only awaiting its execution, and therefore, a person in charge of these cases should be appointed at the earliest.
Each of the law enforcers has rights and responsibilities, in the sense that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Under the legal principle, a person has rights and responsibilities and if he cannot meet his responsibilities, he should face legal consequences too, Sofjan emphasized.
According to him, the orientation of criminal code should actually refer to the Herzien Indonesie Reglemen (HIR), meaning that a revision of the law should be done especially on issues relating to the rights of the suspect, most of which only takes into account the aspect, and the rights of the victims, even though this may sacrifice the sentiments of the community.
The degree of corruption is abnormal qualitatively and quantitatively, and in order to arrive at the best solution, an approach with financial and physical orientation should be made, he further stressed.
In advanced countries, which uphold democratic principles, Sofjan stated that the suspects are actually burdened with all kinds of living costs during their detention in jails.
Thus, its time for Indonesia to apply these principles where if someone has the audacity to be corrupt, he should also be ready to take the responsibility of paying for the crime, the case and the living costs during detention.
The Peoples Convention for Presidential Candidates has actually netted seven presidential candidates for the next years election. The seven presidential candidates are chosen on the ground of their capabilities and experiences.
The seven candidates are Prof Dr Yusril Ihza Mahendra, Dr Rizal Ramli, Prof Dr Sofjan Siregar, Isran Noor, Ricky Sutanto, Tony Ardie and Ani Iwasaki.
(E002/INE/S012)
EDITED BY INE
(KR-BSR/S012)
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
