October 06, 2010
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/politics/indonesian-house-passes-beefed-up-law-to-tackle-graft/399843

Jakarta. The House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously passed a revised Anti-Money Laundering Law that gives anticorruption officials more power to tackle graft.

The revisions allow the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to investigate cases based on reports from the anti-money laundering agency and puts the onus on graft suspects to prove their wealth is legal.

Syarifuddin Sudding, a legislator from the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) who helped draft the amendments, said the Financial Transaction Reports Analysis Center (PPATK) would send its reports to investigators and if the KPK found signs of money laundering in a corruption case, it could open a probe.

“So it’s not only in the hands of the police and the Attorney General’s Office anymore,” Syarifuddin said.

Giving the KPK the authority to probe suspicious transactions based on PPATK reports had been strongly advocated by antigraft activists, who said it would boost the fight against corruption.

According to a PPATK report, the agency has detected 2,442 suspicious transactions since it was established in 2004, 92 percent of which were forwarded to the National Police and the rest to the prosecutors’ office.

But only 26 of those cases have ended with convictions.

In the only two cases where the KPK was authorized to use PPATK reports, 10 lawmakers ended up being charged with receiving bribes, most of them from major parties, including Golkar and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

Ecky Awal Mucharam, from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), who was on the committee considering the revisions, confirmed that under the new law, the KPK would automatically receive copies of PPATK reports.

Ecky said the new law also gave the PPATK the authority to examine and analyze a wider set of documents and freeze accounts involved in suspicious financial transactions.

Another crucial point in the amended law is the introduction of the burden of proof system when it comes to graft suspects.

“In the past it has been the prosecutor who has had to prove how the suspect got the money, now it’s different,” Ecky said. “Prosecutors will be able to demand suspects give proof of their wealth, how they amassed it.”

He said the changes proved the country’s seriousness in eliminating money laundering.

The minister of justice and human rights, Patrialis Akbar, who attended the House plenary session, said the law would help eradicate corruption.

“All this time the PPATK’s authority has been very limited,” he said. “Now it has been given increased authority.”

Patrialis said that a number of clauses in the original law had left room for multiple interpretations, presenting legal loopholes that encouraged financial crimes.

“It needed to be adjusted according to the developing needs of law enforcement, current practices and international standards,” Patrialis said.