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

Top officials from Indonesian law enforcement institutions gathered at the Aryaduta Hotel in Central Jakarta on Tuesday to sign an agreement granting protection to whistle-blowers as an integral part in the fight against crime.

"This agreement is a joint commitment of law enforcement institutions to provide protection to whistle-blowers as justice collaborators," said Abdul Haris, chairman of the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK).

He was joined at the signing by Supreme Court Chief Justice Harifin A. Tumpa, Judicial Mafia Eradication Work Unit chief Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto, National Police Chief Timur Pradopo, Justice and Human Rights minister Patrialis Akbar, Attorney General Basrief Arief, and Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Busyro Muqoddas.

Protection for whistle-blowers, Haris said, was important in revealing corruption and other serious or organized crimes.

Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force secretary Denny Indrayana added that his team, together with the LPSK, had pushed for a revision of the 2006 Law on Witness and Victim Protection.

"Through the joint agreement and international seminar we hope to have helped law enforcement officials understand the issues and speed up the revision process," Denny said.

It is unclear if the new agreement would affect the sentencing of the whistle-blower in the Miranda Goeltom Bank Indonesia bribery scandal.

The man who went public with the case, Agus Condro Prayitno, a former lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), is serving a 15-month jail sentence for accepting a bribe in exchange for voting for Miranda as a Bank Indonesia deputy governor in 2004.