Poor Coordination Gives Space for Fugitives

KOMPAS/DANU KUSWORO

The defendant in the Bank of Bali case, Joko Soegiarto Tjandra, speaks to his legal adviser (unseen) as criminal charges are read out by public prosecutor Antazari Ashar at the South Jakarta District Court on Monday (31/7/2008). Joko was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

An evaluation into how Joko Tjandra, who has been on the run since 2009, was able to file a case review undetected at the South Jakarta District Court needs to be carried out by law enforcement. Poor coordination is in the spotlight.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The return of Joko Tjandra, a convict in the Bank Bali corruption case and fugitive since 2009, to Indonesia without being detected must seriously be investigated by law enforcers. Poor coordination among state agencies is to blame for the fugitive being able to roam freely.

Coordination and the fast exchange of information between related agencies is a necessity to hunt down high profile fugitives as they have adequate networks, resources and information. Moreover, Joko is only one of many high-ranking fugitives who have not been caught.

The certainty of Joko\'s return to Indonesia was conveyed by Joko\'s lawyer Andi Putra Kusuma at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday (1/7/2020). He said he had met with Joko on 8 June to file a case review (PK) at the South Jakarta District Court. According to Andi, Joko looked healthy at that time.

"I don\'t know whether [Joko has been] in Indonesia for three months. I only knew that he was in Indonesia at the time of the case review registration on 8 June. The case review was registered by Joko at the South Jakarta District Court," Andi said.

However, at the first court hearing on 29 June, Joko did not show up. According to Andi, his client was sick based on a doctor\'s letter from one of the clinics in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. According to Andi, he did not know where his client was and also did not know the details of Joko\'s return to Indonesia.

Read also: The Cunning Fugitive Plays Tricks on Authorities

Earlier, Attorney General Sanitiar Burhanuddin mentioned that Joko had returned to Indonesia three months ago. Meanwhile, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly stated the immigration system could not find data on the entry of the fugitive in the Bank Bali corruption case to Indonesia (Kompas, 1/7/2020).

From Kompas archives, Joko was found to have fled to Papua New Guinea on the night of 10 June 2009, one day before the Supreme Court sentenced Joko to two years in prison, 11 June 2009.

KOMPAS/PRAYOGI DWI SULISTYO

Lawyers of Joko Tjandra, led by Andi Putra Kusuma (center), give information to reporters regarding Joko\'s whereabouts at a press conference in Jakarta, Wednesday (1/7/2020). Andi revealed that on 8 June 2020, Joko visited the South Jakarta District Court to file a case review.

Before Joko, based on Kompas data, a graft suspect who was declared a fugitive by the Corruption Eradication Commission, Harun Masiku, also returned to Indonesia undetected in early 2020. At that time, the immigration office said there was a problem with its immigration system.

Coordination problems

Dean of the School of Law at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Sigit Riyanto said the arrest of Joko was actually not a difficult problem. "His lawyer knew the information. How come the state was not made aware? There are questions that have been unanswered. It should not be difficult to resolve cases like this," Sigit said.

According to him, some cases where the fugitive can move freely happen due to a weak coordination between state agencies. Because, the movement of a fugitive should be recorded clearly in the immigration system. In addition, the prosecutor\'s office and the police should have solid information about those who violated the law.

If a case has been processed at the court, the suspect should be under the supervision of law enforcement. Moreover, Sigit said, there is coordination between the police, the prosecutors and the immigration. The state, he said, also has a State Intelligence Agency, therefore all information should be available. Sigit said that it all depended on political will.

All institutions must be able to work under one command.

Efforts to catch fugitives who had fled to other countries, Sigit said, must be carried out together. All institutions must be able to work under one command. Because, such fugitives are not conventional criminals, but people who have a network, are equipped with resources, knowledge, skills and access at the national or global level.

Prosecutors office commission chairman Barita Simanjuntak believes negligence is involved if a fugitive is able to return undetected.

Barita hopes that the AGO will immediately find Joko\'s whereabouts and announce it to the public. In addition, the AGO must also evaluate its fugitive-tracking mechanism and make it more effective.

AGO legal information center head Hari Setiyo said his side could neither confirm news or information that Joko was in Indonesia nor information that Joko had filed a case review at the South Jakarta District Court on 8 June 2020.

According to Hari, the AGO has a fugitive-hunting program. Some of the obstacles that hinder the efforts to arrest fugitives, among others, were the location factor.

However, this does not mean that remote areas are more difficult than urban areas.

In addition, Hari said, the prosecutors’ office also found difficulties when communication between the fugitives and their family had been cut off. Because, one way to track a fugitive’s whereabouts is through his or her family. Another challenge is when the fugitives flee a country that does not have an extradition treaty with Indonesia. (BOW/PDS/NAD)