Indonesia VP pushes for Asset Seizure Bill to fight corruption

Indonesian Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka is strongly advocating for the accelerated passage of the Asset Seizure Bill, deeming it a vital tool to enhance the fight against corruption in the country. Gibran believes that merely imprisoning corrupt officials is insufficient; they must also be financially ruined by forfeiting all assets acquired through criminal activities back to the state.

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If we are truly serious about eradicating corruption, then corruptors must be impoverished. Corruptors must know that corruption crimes not only make them have to sleep behind bars, but the state can also take back all the wealth they stole.

"If we are truly serious about eradicating corruption, then corruptors must be impoverished," Gibran stated, emphasizing that corruption should carry the consequence of not only imprisonment but also the state's ability to reclaim stolen wealth. He pointed to a concerning trend where vast sums of state money are lost to corruption, with minimal recovery.

Citing data from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) for the period 2013–2022, Gibran noted that potential state losses from corruption amounted to Rp238 trillion. Figures from the Attorney General's Office in 2024 indicated potential losses of Rp310 trillion, yet only about Rp1.6 trillion in assets were successfully recovered. "More than 90 percent of assets resulting from corruption simply evaporate and continue to be enjoyed by the perpetrators and their relatives," Gibran observed.

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More than 90 percent of assets resulting from corruption simply evaporate and continue to be enjoyed by the perpetrators and their relatives.

Gibran further explained that the sophistication of organized, cross-border criminal activities, often leveraging modern technology for asset concealment and money laundering, exacerbates the problem. The proposed Asset Seizure Bill, he argued, is a strategic measure to bolster asset recovery efforts. It would empower the state to confiscate assets proven to be directly or indirectly derived from criminal acts, including corruption, narcotics, illegal mining, and logging, among others, to be returned to state coffers.

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The principle is simple: as long as an asset can be proven to originate directly or indirectly from a criminal act such as corruption, narcotics, illegal mining, illegal fishing, illegal logging, online gambling, or human trafficking, the state has the authority to seize that asset to be returned as state assets.