•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

Indonesia Corruption Watch has urged the House of Representatives to drop plans to amend the Corruption Eradication Commission Law, insisting the revisions would only hamper the agency’s antigraft efforts.

Febri Diansyah, the watchdog’s legal coordinator, said on Sunday that changes to the 2002 law would weaken the commission, also known as the KPK, by stripping it of certain powers, including the authority to prosecute suspects and conduct wiretaps without a court order.

“The proposed changes will attack the heart of the KPK and weaken it from within,” he said.

“We will prepare a series of plans to make sure the changes do not happen.”

Febri said lawmakers planned to review 10 provisions, including those on wiretapping procedures, the KPK’s authority to halt investigations as well as powers that overlapped with other law-enforcement agencies.

“If the House amends the law, then the KPK would be focused on preventing rather than eradicating corruption,” Febri said.

“It would still exist, but it would be powerless.”

ICW researcher Donal Fariz said the House had failed to justify the planned amendments.

He also questioned the timing of the move, saying it was “suspicious” that the House was trying to water down the KPK’s powers after it arrested dozens of former and active legislators this year on allegations of taking bribes.

Though the commission was “far from perfect,” the ICW said the KPK had made inroads last year in its war against graft, arresting 69 suspects in 23 cases that accounted for state losses of Rp 619 billion ($72 million).

This is up from the 42 suspects arrested in 2009 in cases estimated to have cost Rp 420 billion in state losses. The KPK has achieved a near 100 percent conviction rate.

“We believe the [KPK’s] mistakes have been at the implementation level, not because the legislation is flawed,” Febri said.

But he said the KPK Law had been the subject of debate, with 13 petitions for judicial review on the law filed with the Constitutional Court since the antigraft body was formed in 2002.

Priyo Budi Santoso, a House deputy speaker, denied that lawmakers were trying to weaken the KPK or were singling out the 2002 law for revision.

He said Commission III overseeing legal affairs would deliberate amendments fairly.

Priyo added that they planned to introduce revisions to laws governing the Supreme Court and other national institutions.