Various Criticisms For The Attorney General After Calling Corruption IDR 50 Million Enough To Return State Financial Losses

Attorney General ST Burhanuddin/Photo: Public Relations of the Attorney General's Office

JAKARTA - Attorney General ST Burhanuddin's statement was highlighted by many parties after naming corruption actors who caused financial losses of less than IDR 50 million did not need to be processed. In fact, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) also criticized the statement made during a hearing (RDP) between the Attorney General and Commission III of the DPR RI.

In a hearing on Thursday, January 27, Attorney General ST Burhanuddin said he asked the ranks not to process the law on corruption perpetrators that resulted in state financial losses of less than Rp50 million.

Burhanuddin said the step was taken so that the suspect returned the loss of state money. Not only that, he believes this effort can speed up, simplify the legal process at a low cost.

After conveying this, Burhanuddin received criticism, including from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher, Kurnia Ramadhana. According to him, not processing the perpetrators of corruption who caused state losses of less than IDR 50 million was like a simalakama fruit.

The reason is, it is not impossible that the perpetrators of corruption will be more and more. "ICW believes that the Attorney General's statement will increase the enthusiasm of the perpetrators to carry out corrupt practices because they will not be prosecuted," said Kurnia.

In addition, what Burhanuddin considered Kurnia was not based on strong arguments. Moreover, until now, Article 4 of the Law on the Elimination of Criminal Acts of Corruption (UU Tipikor) is still in effect in which the return of state financial losses or the state's economy does not abolish the punishment of criminals.

"It is important to remember that returning funds from corrupt practices can only be used as a basis for commuting demands and punishments, not even if no action is taken," said the anti-corruption activist.

ICW was not the only one who spoke about the Attorney General's statement, ST Burhanuddin. The institution that both handles corrupt practices, the KPK, also emphasized that any amount of state money that was corrupted must be handled by law enforcement officials. In fact, if the loss to the state does not reach IDR 50 million.

"Our country is a legal state whose formation is the DPR and the government. As long as this is not regulated in the law, we as law enforcers cannot be creative in allowing corruption below IDR 50 million," said KPK Deputy Chair Nurul Ghufron to reporters in a written statement, Friday, 28 January.

Ghufron understands that the legal process must consider the budget and benefits, especially for corruption cases with small state losses. He also agreed that the cost of investigating a corruption case from investigation to court including appeals and cassation could be more than IDR 50 million.

However, he reminded that this aspect of law enforcement must also prioritize the provision of a deterrent effect. So, regardless of the number of state losses due to corruption, said Ghufron, it must still be investigated thoroughly.

"The legal aspect is not only about the loss to the state, but also the aspect of deterrence and as a statement of contempt for disgraceful behavior regardless of the amount of the loss," he stressed.

Having received criticism from many parties, including the KPK, the Attorney General's Office spoke up. The Kapuspenkum of the Attorney General's Office, Leonard Eben Ezer Simanjuntak, said that Attorney General Burhanuddin did give an appeal to the ranks regarding corruption under IDR 50 million to be resolved by way of refunding state financial losses.

This is called an effort to implement the legal process quickly, simply, and at a low cost. Leonard reminded that the analysis of economic value should not go unnoticed by law enforcement officials.

Just like Ghufron, he said the operational costs for handling cases could reach more than IDR 50 million. Thus, if the corruption case handled only causes state losses of under IDR 50 million, it is considered not worth it.

"It is conceivable that Rp50 million of corruption must be handled by law enforcement officers (from investigation to execution, ed) with the operational costs of handling cases issued by the state exceeding IDR 50 million from the resulting state losses," Leonard said in a written statement, Friday, January 28.

Apart from being disproportionate, this will certainly be a burden for the government in the future. Because, there are costs that must be incurred from the cost of eating, drinking, and other facilities.

"This means that the cost and benefit analysis of handling corruption cases is also important to be considered in order to achieve the value of community justice and the value of legal benefits," said Kapuspenkum.

"As for the explanation above, it is the response of the Attorney General of the Republic of Indonesia and his general appeal to think together and obtain the right solution in taking action against corruption that touches both the perpetrators and the community at the grassroots level, which is generally carried out because of ignorance or ignorance. there is a deliberate attempt to steal state money, and the value of the state's financial losses is relatively small," concluded Leonard.