Indonesia stepping up international crime fight

The Attorney General's Office is establishing a special task force of 32 prosecutors to fight terrorism and transnational crimes, including money laundering and human trafficking. Because these crimes cross borders, Indonesia is cooperating with other nations in the effort. Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh said several foreign countries had supported the AGO's action, including the United States, which gave US$750,000 to finance the task force.

Abdul Rahman said the financial assistance did not mean the U.S. would be calling the shots. "Our cooperation in transnational crimes such as money laundering, human trafficking and violence against migrant workers is non-political cooperation. It's a technical, professional cooperation in handling cases," he said. Deputy attorney general Basrief Arief said that, so far, the AGO had used 20 percent of the grant for organizing the task force, providing equipment and training, and conducting field studies.

Abdul Rahman said the task force would focus on prosecution, rather than investigation, which is the domain of the police. "So there won't be any overlapping between the attorney general's office and the police," he said, after swearing in members of the task force at his office in Jakarta.

Money laundering will be a main focus of the effort. According to data from the Financial Transaction Reports Analysis Center (PPATK), since its establishment in 2003, the PPATK has received a total of 4,441 reports of suspicious transactions. 419 of these were forwarded to local police and prosecutors.

The six resulting cases, which were tried in Central Jakarta, South Jakarta, Denpasar and Kebumen, Central Java, all ended in convictions. Between January and May 12 this year the government-funded agency received 1,130 reports of suspicious transactions, while last year it received 2,055 reports, up sharply from only 838 in 2004 and 280 in 2003.

(Jakarta Post)