MK Chief Justice, Moh. Mahfud MD when becoming a resource person in the âApa Kabar Indonesia Pagiâ program on TVOne, Tuesday (16/11) morning.
Jakarta, MK Online – Gayus’ full name is Gayus Halomoan Tambunan. Currently, the order of words no longer becomes a mere name of a person. Now, it has become a symbol, a symbol of how dilapidated our (read: Indonesia’s, ed.) law enforcement has become. Through Gayus, the tip of the iceberg seems to increasingly show its original form: corrupt mentality of law enforcement apparatuses. It may not be good to generalize, but the existing facts are difficult to deny. The fact is that Gayus managed to take a ‘trip’ to Bali with his detainee status.
According to the Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Moh. Mahfud MD, someone like Gayus should have been punished in an unusual manner. He then suggested ‘impoverishment’ as the proper punishment for a person like Gayus. “He has impoverished millions of people in this country,” said Mahfud conveying his reason, when he became a resource person in the “Apa Kabar Indonesia Pagi“ program on TVOne on Tuesday (16/11) morning. “In my opinion, if he and his family are impoverished, that would be a fair punishment for him so that people like him will not do the same again.”
However, Mahfud regretted that the legal option of ‘impoverishment’ had not existed in Indonesian legal system. “Because we have been late in formulating a Law for implementing the ratification in relation to the UN anti-corruption convention,” he said. Therefore, he hoped that at least, Gayus could be punished as severely as possible for what he had done so far.
Mahfud believed that in settling the case of Gayus’ ‘trip’ to Bali without any authorization from the Court, two issues needed to be the focus of attention: first, Gayus, as bribery perpetrator; and second, the apparatuses receiving the bribe. According to Mahfud, the reasons and motives behind the problem had to be thoroughly disclosed for future reform of law enforcement.
On that occasion, Mahfud also regretted how easy it had been for such corruptive practices to occur in the Indonesian law enforcement system. Moreover, he continued, the perpetrators were law enforcement apparatuses themselves. “It is like the law enforcement apparatuses being peed on by Gayus, and they scramble for Gayus’ urine,” conveyed Mahfud angrily. “That is the irony of our country,” he said chuckling.
According to Mahfud, all the legal dilapidations occurring nowadays had to be immediately settled. One of the ways to pursue was to increase the professionalism of law enforcement apparatuses. (Dodi)
Thursday, November 18, 2010 | 05:49 WIB 268