Pressure for KPK to Take Over BLBI Case
Monday, 10 March, 2008 | 13:49 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The Commission to Eradicate Corruption (KPK) is being urged to take over the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) case.

Pressure has become stronger since prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan, chairman of the BLBI investigator team, was caught receiving money amounting to US$660,000 from Artalyta Suryani, at the home of Sjamsul Nursalim, one of the BLBI obligors.

The commission has said it suspects that this money is related to the BLBI case.

Two days before Urip was caught, investigation into the case was stopped by the attorney's office.

Emerson Yuntho, from the Indonesian Corruption Watch, has said that the attorney's office should no longer handle the BLBI case.

“This case should be transferred to the KPK, as well as other cases involving state financial losses as large as in the BLBI case”, said Emerson during discussion in Jakarta last weekend.

In response, KPK Head Antasari Azhar said that the investigation into the BLBI case could be taken over by the KPK, but that this should be done properly.

“There is a mechanism for this. We'll see”, he said when contacted two days ago.

Antasari said he felt the suggestion to transfer the BLBI case would likely become controversial.

If it were to be transferred, the KPK will be considered as breaking the retroactive principle.

“We do not want to enforce the law by acting against the law,” he said.

Denny Indrayana, Coordinator for Indonesian Court Monitoring, said that what was needed was a breakthrough new regulation.

This could be done, for example, by reviewing the government's past policy that made it so easy for making BLBI obligors to be free of their debts.

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