The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and other law enforcers are urged to formulate the mechanism to handle bribery case, where whistle blower’s protection must be guaranteed, and law enforcers must have the same perception in handling the case to avoid entrapment accusation.
The recommendation emerged from the panel discussion titled “The Implementation of Legal Protection for Whistle Blowers” held by KPK’s Public Complaint Directorate on Tuesday (Nov. 12). The discussion featured Director of Indonesian Legal Aid Institution Foundation Asfinawati, Deputy Head of Witness and Victim Protection Institution (LPSK) Susilaningtias, former justice and criminal law expert Asep Iwan Iriawan, and lecturer at Indonesian University’s Law Faculty Gandjar L. Bonaprapta.
KPK Deputy Chair Alexander Marwata said in his opening speect that it is critical to create a climate where people dare to file report and become whistle blower, particularly in bribery case. He said only few bribery cases that could be followed up by KPK due to the lack of evidence and authority.
Susilaningtias from LPSK shared about the cases of backlash against whistle blowers who were accused of defamation.
“Law enforcers need to have the same understanding about bribery, so that we can provide maximum protection for whistle blowers,” she said.
Meanwhile, Asep Iwan Iriawan said during his tenure as a judge, bribery allegation has been the most difficult to prove. Whistle blowers were often intimidated and reported as perpetrators, he said. Asfinawati confirmed the situation, referring to the case of Endin Wahyudin who reported several judges and he was later sued for defamation.
Gandjar Laksmana highlighted on how law enforcers put a lot of burdens to whistle blowers, including the burden to provide evidence. It should be the law enforcers’ job to seek the evidence, Gandjar said.
“It takes a lot of guts for whistle blowers to come to law enforcers. Don’t put additional burden by the requirement to bring evidence,” he said.
The recommendations from the discussion will be followed up, said KPK Deputy for Public Complaint and Internatl Monitoring Hery Muryanto, through coordination between law enforcers and related ministries on the protection of whistle blowers in bribery case. He said there is a need for effective legal protection for such case.
Participants of the discussion were law enforcers, KPK, prosecutors office, other legal institutions, and inspectorate generals from several ministries. They shared experience on handling whistle blowers within ministries and protection for them.
