TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Convicted corruptor Urip Tri Gunawan has walked free. The news is disturbing because justice has not been fully served. Urip served only nine years at Sukamiskin prison, just outside Bandung, much less than the 20-year sentence he got for his involvement in the 2008 Bank Indonesia's Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) corruption case. He has not even served half of the sentence!
Urip was the head of the prosecution team which probed the BLBI case. He was the key person entrusted with unraveling the case involving trillions of state funds. But this law-enforcement official breached that trust and accepted Rp6 billion bribe money from Artalyta Suryani, a close friend of tycoon Sjamsul Nursalimcurrently a fugitive after embezzling the BLBI funds amounting to Rp3.75 trillion. Urip was later convicted of leaking information and guiding Artalyta to prepare a medical dispensation for Sjamsul Nursalim that would release him from police interrogation.
Urip's treacherous acts allowed Sjamsul to get away and remain a fugitive to this day. In 2008, a panel of judges sentenced Urip to 20 years in prison for the crime. Eventually, however, the Justice Ministry relented, by giving Urip a variety of 'reductions' to his sentence, altogether 52 months of remission.
The details of the calculated sentence showed that Urip enjoyed many advantages, in and out of prison. With a total remission of 52 months, Urip only had 15 years and 7 months left to serve. Now, after nine years, coupled with 'reductions' here and there, Urip was considered to have done two-thirds of his original sentence. This was where a travesty occurred. It was not two-thirds of the total 20 years' sentence but of the remaining sentence after the remissions. So, having paid off the fines of just Rp500 million for state losses, Urip was out on parole.
Urip's release sends out a negative signal that the Joko Widodo government is being lenient to corruptors. It is also a setback in the fight against corruption. In 2012, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued Government Regulation No. 99 on the Terms and Rights of Prisoners, the content of which was quite progressive. Those convicted of graft, classified as an extraordinary crime, may be eligible for remission only if the convict serves as a justice collaborator, pays fines and shows good behavior while incarcerated. Unfortunately, the justice and human rights ministry argued that the regulation could not be applied retroactively in Urip's case, which was ruled in 2008.
Even parole has its conditions. The justice ministry must request consent from the anti-corruption agency (KPK) as the law-enforcement agency which originally investigated the case. Yet, it turns out that the KPK was never consulted. The agency only received a letter from the corrections directorate-general of the justice ministry, on fines that Urip needed to settle. The justice ministry again contended that it did not need to consult any party over Urip's release.
The justice ministry's lame pretext in this case calls for a strong condemnation. The remission and parole regulations should be strictly and consistently adhered to without solely considering the inmate's rights. It is imperative that justice takes precedence over all others in the fight against this vicious cancer called corruption.
Read the full story in this week’s edition of Tempo English Magazine
