Civil society groups urge for complete investigation of Bank Century scandal

Irawaty Wardany , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 11/30/2009 7:34 PM

The Indonesian Anti-Corruption Civic Community declared their joint statements Monday to encourage the government to complete its investigation of the Bank Century bailout.

“We have a deep moral and political concern for the state of political ethics in this country regarding the investigation of the Bank Century scandal,” Ray Rangkuti from Lima read the joint statements at the Muhammadiyah headquarters at Cikini, Central Jakarta.

The civic community comprises of among others, Lima, Muhammadiyah and the Anti-Corruption Civil Societies (Kompak).

The joint statement declaration was attended by the Muhammadiyah chairman, Din Syamsuddin, and the former coordinating minister for the economy Kwik Kian Gie as well as several other national figures.

They said the Bank Century scandal was a crime against the state and the decision to provide a Rp 6.7 trillion (US$ 710 million) bailout was a systemic robbery facilitated by a corrupt state policy.

The takeover of Century by the government, via the Deposit Insurance Agency (LPS), led to an Rp 6.76 trillion bailout - much more the preliminary estimates of fewer than one trillion and three times the later calculation of Rp 2.27 trillion - figures that have drawn severe criticism for their lack of transparency.

The community urged all levels of society to monitor the investigation of the Bank Century scandal.