Collecting Illegal Levies Subject to Minimum 4 Years In Jail: AGO

Attorney General Prasetyo responds to reporters’ questions on Thursday (20/10), at the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta

Illegal levies and bribe are two different things, Attorney General Prasetyo said. According to him, colleting illegal levies involves one party that often happened to be the Government officers or administrators who have authorities and power to demand something; thus, people are forced to pay illegal levies, otherwise, they will not be able to enjoy the services.

“Thus, people who have been asked for illegal levies should not be afraid to report it because they are the victims,” Prasetyo told the reporters after a coordinating meeting with the President and Governors of every provinces around Indonesia on Thursday (20/10), at the State Palace, Jakarta.

In contrast, bribe involves two parties who cooperate and conspire, the one will give, and the other will receive something for certain purpose.

Therefore, Prasetyo asserted that illegal levies where people ask and extort money are happened everywhere.

“This is that we need to stop,” the Attorney General said.

Regarding legal construction, Prasetyo said that illegal levies can be imposed with Corruption Law Article 12E, which carries a minimum of 4-year sentence.

“However, we cannot generalize it, we should take it case by case,” Prasetyo explained.

The point is, Prasetyo added, collecting illegal levies must be eradicated somehow because the crime has already become our culture and has happened massively for years that obviously bring many negative impacts.

First, illegal levies will raise the cost. Second, it will disrupt the flow of goods, create long-winded dispute resolution, can stage the decision, and others.

“It all must be investigated one by one,” Prasetyo firmly said.

According to Prasetyo, the legal basis of the Operation to Eradicate Illegal Levies is the Presidential Decree and also the Government’s strong determination to eradicate illegal levies.

Prasetyo added that in the last coordinating meeting, the Governor of South Sulawesi proposed the operation to be a sustainable one, it should not be only sporadic that only flames at one time, but it should be sustainable because the crime is so massive.

Responding to the reporters’ question on the Saber Pungli (Sapu Bersih Pungli), a task force to eradicate illegal levies, Prasetyo said that the task force will be led by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs.

“The members will be the officers of related parties, including the Indonesian National Police, Attorney Office, and also governor will be involved,” Prasetyo added.

Prasetyo ensured that the members of the Saber Pungli would be selected from person of integrity because if they want to root out illegal levies they have to be all out.

The team will carry out the task until illegal levies is eliminated from Indonesia, he added.

Prasetyo further said that the position of Attorney in the task force will be regulated later and if the case is brought to the court, the Attorney will act as the prosecutor.

“Prosecutor of crime cases is indeed the police, but when it also involves corruption practices, the Attorney can take the case,” Prasetyo said. (FID/ES)(RAS/EP/YM/Naster)