TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan said he and 57 other former KPK employees were keen to return to work in the anti-corruption commission. He said he was averse to the current corruption situation.

“We don't want this corruption situation to worsen. It's getting extraordinarily worse and people who commit corruption feel they can be free. We are averse to that,” said Novel on Thursday, September 30.

If there was an opportunity, he also said, he would definitely want to return to the KPK. He also hoped that the KPK would return to its initial condition. “A strong institution that aims at eradicating corruption,” Novel said.

He added that they were preparing a number of strategies to undo the dismissal of 57 employees. One of them is to file a lawsuit with the State Administrative Court. However, he said it was an alternative option.

He said he still hoped that the government would intervene in the uproar, such as by following-up on the recommendations of the Indonesian Ombudsman and the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM), including by appointing former KPK employees to become state civil servants.

Regarding the National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo’s intention to recruit the dismissed KPK employees, Novel considered it was an attractive offer. He said the offer could be an opportunity for employees to contribute to eradicating corruption.

“We will see it as an opportunity to contribute to something similar to what we did at the KPK,” Novel Baswedan said.

Read: Fifty Eight Dismissed Employees of KPK Declare Indonesia Memanggil 57 Institute

M ROSSENO AJI