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

Two prosecutors, including a former district office head, have been named as suspects in the alleged sale of as many as 57 fishing boats that had been held as evidence in illegal-fishing cases in Papua, the Attorney General’s Office announced on Friday.

“We estimate a loss of at least Rp 663 million [$73,000] from the illegal selling of six fishing boats, but it’s very likely to grow because we suspect 57 boats have been sold by the two suspects,” AGO spokesman Didiek Darmanto said.

The suspects are Edi Sutiyono, who was the chief prosecutor in Papua’s Merauke district at the time of the suspected crime in 2006-07, and Suparno, head of the special crimes division at the prosecutor’s district office.

“The proceeds generated from the boat sales were not deposited in state coffers,” Didiek said.

He said the suspects instructed local prosecutors to use the Law on Maritime Transport rather than the Law on Illegal Fishing in handling 57 cases and they didn’t appeal court verdicts that failed to meet prosecution demands.

“It’s our basic procedure to challenge verdicts that fall far short of the prosecution demand,” said Didiek, adding that the suspects had formally registered only 16 of the 57 illegal-fishing cases.

Edi, whose last job was as chief prosecutor in Central Java’s Wonosobo district, and Suparno have been suspended pending the completion of the investigation.

“Apart from the criminal charges, the ethics board of the AGO launched a separate investigation on alleged disciplinary violations,” Didiek said.

The boats seized by the district prosecutors varied in size, he said. “For instance, the evidence includes Dong Yu 2012, a boat weighing 235 gross tons, Bonekom Roman 17 at 124 gross tons and Mitra 881 at 137 gross tons.”

The suspects in the illegal-fishing cases included Indonesian and foreign fishermen, Didiek said.