There’s no denying Indonesia has a corruption issue, but this week has been outstanding - even by Indonesia’s standards, to the point of being surreal.

On Monday, the Anti-Corruption Court sentenced the former regent of Kendal province to five years in prison for “inflicting losses” (i.e. stealing) of US$1.8 million on the State. This was almost overshadowed by the news that a large number of Jakarta councilors had received luxury sedans. It was only after a lot of back-pedaling that Governor Sutiyoso confirmed that the cars were only on loan and had to be returned in 2009. The governor completely side-stepped the issue of whether the provision of cars was permitted by the Council’s by-laws (which it is not) and his (Golkar party) cronies had the gall to profess that (Golkar party) councillors “have the right to official cars”. Councilor Prya Ramadhani was adamant: “It’s mentioned in a ministerial regulation, but I forget which one”, he told the Jakarta Post. 

On Tuesday, the East Java District Court sentenced a second high ranking leader, this time the former regent of Jember, to six years imprisonment for “graft” (i.e. stealing). But the real news of the day was when Nuridin Halid, Golkar Party legislator and best buddy to Tommy Suharto (playboy son of the former dictator), surrendered himself to the Selemba penitentiary to serve a two year sentence for “misusing” (i.e. stealing) $18 million of government funds.

The next day, Wednesday, Vice President Kalla told the press that Halid’s conviction for corruption, fraud, embezzlement, theft from the State, moral vacancy, etc, should not preclude him from serving in the House of Representatives. Um... what?! What about the law, which bars anyone involved in corruption (or any other criminal activity for that matter) from sitting in the House? We have come to expect this sort of carry on from our diminutive Vice President. Not long ago, he defended his friend, the Justice Minister, who helped Tommy Suharto get his paws on $10 million in ill-gotten funds frozen by a European bank.

As it turns out, Halid resigned the same day. But I’m still trying to figure out why the Golkar promoted a convicted felon - a man who had stolen from the State - to a legislative role in the first place. Yes, good people: Halid was appointed to the House after he was convicted. 

It’s hardly surprising then that both the House of Representatives and the Indonesian Corruption Watchdog are highly critical of the Government’s apparent lack of commitment to fighting corruption. Not only has pretty much no progress been made in the hunt for those guilty of stealing from the Government, but no preventative measures have been taken to curb corruption. Major corruption cases remain unresolved and what convictions there are seem to have little impact. For whatever reason, the Courts have refrained from dishing out any real penalties. Even in Halid’s case, he is very unlikely to serve very much (if any) of his two year sentence and the $3,000 fine is completely disproportionate to the amount stolen, $18 million. Where is the deterrence?

That same day (it’s still only Wednesday), the Government’s audit agency filed a complaint against the Supreme Court for refusing to allow an audit of case fees received by the Court in 2005 and 2006. Perhaps wisely, Chief Justice Manan has refused to comment.

Thursday, the BRR, the organisation responsible for much of the reconstruction in the 2004-tsunami devastated areas of Aceh and Nias, was accused of “misusing” $240 million of its 2006 budgeted funds, funneling the money into trust funds. Then the former Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia was charged with charging (i.e. stealing) illegal levies to the tune of $13 million.

But the icing on the cake came on Friday in the form of a Supreme Court decision ordering Time magazine to pay $106 million to former dictator and ”self-made” billionaire, General Suharto, for slander. Suharto took offence at the 1999 article, Suharto Inc: How Indonesia’s long-time boss built a family fortune, in which Time claimed “US$9 billion of Suharto’s money was transferred from Switzerland to Austria... now considered a safe haven for hush-hush deposits” as well as two cartoon’s caricaturing the former dictator. According to Tempo magazine, Suharto felt that the drawings and the article were biased and gave the impression that he was greedy. Well, d’uh! 

If it didn’t have such serious consequences, the Supreme Court’s decision would be a joke. Suharto’s ill-gotten wealth is this country’s worst kept secret. The Attorney-General has been trying to bring corruption proceedings against Suharto since the monster stood down in 1998. So far nothing has happened due to the despot’s “ill health”. Maybe the judiciary need a lesson in journalism. Tempo magazine seems to thinks so and published two cartoons to make the point - one as its cover.

Do you think the Supreme Court would consider these to be “balanced” or give the impression that Suharto is “greedy”? I certainly hope so, because that’s the point of caricatures and this is an example of an independent media doing its job.

It would be easy to become dismayed by all this... disease, if it weren’t for the ferocity with which Tempo and, to a lesser extent, the Jakarta Post pursue and report these crimes. Yes, corruption is a serious issue here. There is a growing concern that it has reached the point of being socialized. I don’t believe that is true. There are many Indonesians who view corruption and its relatives with disgust and disdain. There are Indonesians who want change, as demonstrated by Tempo. More importantly, there are also many Indonesians who, in the face of abject poverty, are honest. As if to prove a point, on Thursday, Diana and I sauntered into De Hooy pub for a few beers to celebrate her last night in Jakarta. One of the bar staff approached our table and handed me my credit card, which I left there ten weeks before - when Diana had arrived in Jakarta. She got one hell of a tip when we left!