Tuesday February 9, 2010

INTERVIEW - Indonesia's AG pledges gradual reform of legal body

By Olivia Rondonuwu and Ed Davies

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia plans to cut 15 percent of staff at the Attorney General's office over five years to improve performance, although full reform of the institution could take until 2025, the Attorney General said on Tuesday.

Indonesia's Attorney General Hendarman Supandji gestures during an interview at his office in Jakarta February 9, 2010. (REUTERS/Dadang Tri)

Hendarman Supandji, Attorney General since 2007, said in an interview that state prosecutors needed to be paid far better wages to avoid being tempted by corruption.

The Attorney General's office and the police have come under particular scrutiny after scandals pointed to the existence of a "legal mafia" seeking to fix cases at a price.

Supandji said some prosecutors earned only about $300 a month, even though they were often putting in long hours.

The state needed to provide more money for wages and "if they can't (the prosecutors) will find their own money", he added.

The government has plans to raise wages for civil servants, and some departments such as the formally notoriously corrupt tax and customs office have already been overhauled to include more meritocratic practices.

Indonesia's unpredictable legal system is one of the main deterrents to much needed investment in the country.

While President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, re-elected for a new term last year, has made inroads tackling graft in Southeast Asia's biggest economy, reform of the legal system has lagged.

Supandji said he planned to cut the number of his staff by 3,000, from 20,000 by 2014, although it would be done gradually.

"If you slim very quickly, even a person who is fat could quickly lose so much weight they will die," said Supandji.

A survey by Indonesia's anti-corruption agency last year found the judiciary was the most graft-prone public institution in the country, illustrated by cases where officials have been caught red-handed with suitcases stuffed with cash.

"I need to reform the morality and it is not an easy task, especially with a small salary and workload like this," said Supandji. A 2009 report by anti-graft groups, based on official data, said almost half of graft cases ended in acquittal in the mainstream legal system between 2005 and the first half of 2009.

In contrast, Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission -- known by its Indonesian acronym, as the KPK -- has a 100 percent conviction rate and has been praised for spearheading the fight against graft.

Supandji, 63, denied his institution was shying away from seeking to prosecute "big fish" or powerful vested interests, but said it was because of a lack of evidence, or in some cases because prosecutors failed to follow orders.

He said, however, that his office planned to get wiretapping equipment to help enhance prosecution of graft cases.

Two top KPK officials, Bibit Samad Riyanto and Chandra Hamzah, were cleared last year of allegations they abused their positions after evidence emerged of a police plot to frame them.

Despite winning the election on an anti-corruption platform, Yudhoyono appeared slow to defend the KPK.

But after much public pressure, Yudhoyono vowed to address legal reform, putting trusted technocrat, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, in charge of a new legal reform unit.

(Editing by Jerry Norton)

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