The Government And DPR RI Are Urged To Immediately Discuss And Pass The Asset Confiscation Bill

Illustration of expropriation of assets (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) researcher Kurnia Ramadhana urges the government and the Indonesian Parliament to discuss and ratify the Draft Law (RUU) on asset confiscation. This is because this bill is needed so that the state can seize the assets of the perpetrators of corruption without depending on their presence.

"We believe this bill is an important package to seize important assets from corruption crimes," said Kurnia in a written statement to journalists, Wednesday, July 15.

In the future, he continued, when this bill is passed, law enforcers do not need to rely on the presence of corruptors in Indonesia. This is because, even though they become fugitives, all assets owned and originating from criminal acts of corruption can be confiscated in court.

"The method of proof is also easier because it adopts the concept of reversing the burden of proof," he said.

He said the Asset Confiscation Bill was pending and was a legacy in arrears that had to be discussed between the government and the Indonesian Parliament since 2012.

By not immediately discussing and ratifying this draft law, according to him, it is increasingly proving that the government and the DPR RI have never thought about strengthening legislation in the field of eradicating criminal acts of corruption.

"Important legislation such as the Asset Confiscation Bill alone has not been discussed by the legislators for eight years, while the revision of the KPK Law, the process is very fast and practically takes less than 15 days," he said.

Meanwhile, when asked about the ratification of the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) Criminal Problem between Indonesia and Switzerland, Kurnia said that the agreement did not bring fresh air to the eradication of corruption at the transnational level.

"MLA Indonesia and Switzerland are actually only a small part of the legislation that supports the confiscation of assets from corruption crimes abroad," he said.

Previously, Minister of Law and Human Rights Yasonna Laoly said that the government would immediately collect data and track the proceeds of crime stored in Switzerland. This was done after the Indonesian House of Representatives agreed to enact the Draft Law on the Ratification of the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement in Criminal Matters between the Republic of Indonesia and the Swiss Confederation into law.

After the legislation was passed by the DPR, Yasonna said, Kemenkumham would form a team and coordinate with a number of parties to track assets to Switzerland such as Bareskrim, KPK, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

With this cooperation, Indonesia can ask the Swiss to open data and ask for it. In addition, as a result of this cooperation Indonesia was able to confiscate assets that had been tracked together with the Swiss government.

It is known, the law governing the Mutual Legal Assistance Agreement with Switzerland was initiated by the 6th President of the Republic of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2007 when he met the President of the Swiss Confederation Micheline Calmy-Rey at the State Palace, Jakarta. At that time, Calmy-Rey agreed with the idea of his government and the Indonesian government working together to return the assets of corruptors in the country.

Talks resumed in 2010 when the President of the Swiss Confederation Doris Leuthard visited Indonesia. However, this agreement was dimmed due to various obstacles. Including the technical return of assets and strict banking regulations in Switzerland.

Discussions came to life in the era of President Joko Widodo's administration and the first negotiations were held on 28-30 April 2015 in Bali.

The Indonesian delegation at that time was chaired by the Director of International Law and Central Authority who is currently the Director General of General Legal Administration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Cahyo Rahadian Muzhar. The next two years, to be precise in August 2017, the second negotiations were held in Bern, Switzerland.

On February 4, 2019 Menkumham Yasonna Laoly and Swiss Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter signed the Indonesia-Swiss MLA agreement at a meeting in Bernerhof, Bern, Switzerland.