TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former member of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) supervisory board Artidjo Alkostar passed away at the age of 72 years old on Sunday, February 28.

Many people active in the anti-graft movement would testify that Alkostar’s name itself would menace corruptors in Indonesia as he would seek to punish graft suspects severely. This was evident in a past interview with Tempo back in 2013 when Alkostar revealed his intent to impose severe punishments for corruptors and cited death sentences.

However, he said it is unfortunate that Indonesia’s legal construction in Articles on corruption would often not meet expectations as “This Article is linked to other factors outside of the law. Take the example of natural disasters and some corruptor repeating an offence. That is seldom, and by that the death penalty would not be reached because the legal construction is wrong,” he said in the interview with Tempo Magazine in December 2013.

He cited China’s legal construction and its clear legal boundaries and gave an example of the death penalty given to graft suspects on a fixed amount of corruption “The death penalty can be achieved if the construction is clear.”

The man who was once the Director of Yogyakarta Legal Aid suggested at the time to amend laws related to corruption, however, he doubted members of the legislation would amend such a law.

“How willing are we to amend? Even writers of the law are fearful of some day [affiliated with such a crime] and they would rather play safe for themselves,” said Artidjo Alkostar who is currently buried at the Islam Indonesia University cemetery.

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DEWI NURITA