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A researcher at the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) Wana Alamsyah. ANTARA/Benardy Ferdiansyah/sh

 Anti-graft watchdog the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) deems the plan to reactivate a corruptor hunting team as unnecessary and instead suggested the government to prioritize the empowerment of law enforcers.

"Firstly, the corruptor hunting team was established in 2002. However, according to ICW's data, eight years following its establishment, it only captured four out of the targeted 16," an ICW researcher Wana Alamsyah noted in a statement in Jakarta on Friday.

Furthermore, he noted that the government had yet to publish an evaluation over the team.

According to Alamsyah, the ICW recorded 40 fugitives in corruption cases during the 1996-2018 period. "This means that we need to empower law enforcers. The policy to form a new team would spark an overlap in authority," Alamsyah noted.

Citing the arrest of Maria Pauline Lumowa, a fugitive in Bank Negara Indonesia's (BNI's) US$136-million fraud case, Alamsyah pointed out that the extradition treaty was not the sole means of capturing a fugitive.

To this end, Alamsyah highlighted the need for the government to focus on a non-formal approach to expedite the arrest of dozens of fugitives currently hiding abroad.

Earlier, on Wednesday (July 8), Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Mahfud MD stated that the government will reactivate the corruptor hunting team constituting personnel of the Indonesian Police, Attorney General’s Office, and Law and Human Rights Ministry.

"The team will work under the coordination of the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs. The team had recorded some achievements. Perhaps, the corruptor hunting team can also arrest a suspect when it tracks down Djoko Tjandra," Mahfud remarked.

Djoko Tjandra was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and ordered to pay Rp546 billion (US$54 million) in restitution by the Supreme Court in 2009 for embezzling billions of rupiah from the state bailout fund during the 1998 Asian financial crisis.

Tjandra escaped to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, a day before the court announced the verdict. (ANTARA)