T. Sima Gunawan, The Jakarta Post/ANN
May 26, 2006

“You can’t clean a dirty floor with a dirty broom,” says Jarkarta Post columnist T. Sima Gunawan, quoting an activist, in response to the problem of graft in Indonesia, ranked by Berlin-based NGO Transparency International as the sixth most corrupt nation in the world.

“Those who want to fight corruption must first get clean themselves,” continues Gunawan, otherwise, “it’s impossible to combat corruption if many law enforcers, police officers, prosecutors and judges, as well as lawyers, are also crooked.” Although it is commonly held that corrupt officials should go to jail or return stolen state money, and while some have received heavy sentences, Gunawan notes that others have been let off lightly or acquitted, including Indonesia’s former president Haji Mohammed Soeharto (commonly referred to as just Soeharto or Suharto, in English).
Recounting Soeharto’s success in escaping accountability to date, Gunawan writes that pleas of ill health have allowed the former president to avoid trial, although there is a mounting call to try Soeharto in absentia or use civil law to settle a case to recover
money allegedly embezzled by Soeharto, which according to government estimates is between US$150 million and US$419 million.

Transparency International calculated the amount of state funds looted by Soeharto higher still as being between US$15 billion and US$35 billion, making him the most corrupt leader in the world.