Accusation against ICW

" Your Mouth is Your Tiger! "
That's an addage which imply that people should be very careful whenever they talk, otherwise they might get themselves into trouble.

This addage is perhaps suitable to describe about the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) which was reported by the Attorney General Office (AGO) to the National Police Headquarters last Wednesday for committing an Act of Defamation against the AGO.
According to The Jakarta Globe, the said report was made following a news in last Monday edition of Rakyat Merdeka tabloid in which two ICW members: Emerson Yuntho & Illian Deta Arta Sari claimed that Prosecutors of the AGO have embezzled state funds recovered from Corruption cases investigated for the last four years. However, Emerson denied having accused the AGO of misusing the funds, he said that he only questionned the difference between the amount claimed by the AGO: Rp 8 Trillion, and the amount reported by the State Audit Agency (BPK): RP 382.67 Billion.

Meanwhile, Kompas reported that the AGO's report to the Police has been critized by the Coordinator of the Indonesian Anti Corruption Community (MAKI) Boyamin S. who said that as a state institution the AGO should be protecting people instead of taking action against people who critized it. Further, a member of Parliament (DPR) Gayus Lumbuun said according to the Criminal Prosedural Law (KUHAP) Article 220, Prosecutors and Judges cannot handle law cases in which they are involved as one of the conflicting parties. Therefore, if the report against ICW is followed by next step i.e Prosecution, then there is no Prosecutor who is eligible to do that.
In reaction to the above criticism, Attorney Generan Hendarman Supanji said that the AGO is not alergic to criticism, but in this case they are only using their right to defend themselves against allegation.

This is an interesting case, on the one hand it would serve as a lesson for the people in general, and ICW in particular, to be very extra careful when making a public statement. On the other hand, it would serve as a warning to state officials to do their job properly because their actions are closely monitored by the public. That way, wrong doings can be prevented or at least minimized.

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