To date, the Indonesian government and institutions have largely remained entrenched in an endemic culture of corruption. Despite major victories before the court by the Corruption Eradication Commission (“KPK”) in recent years, crimes of corruption (especially bribery and gratification) remain a major problem at every level of government institution.

A big part of Indonesia’s culture of corruption is that, even for those who want to do the right thing and report wrongdoings, the risk for a cooperative person (i.e. whistle-blower) can be significant. A whistle-blower can easily become a target, not just of criminal intimidation but also of criminal persecution, for example, defamation. In addition, obviously, reporting a crime of corruption means that the whistle-blower cannot benefit financially and could face retaliation from the alleged perpetrator.

In light of the above, on 17 September 2018, the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, passed a new government regulation that provides a bigger incentive for whistleblowing through the prospect of a monetary reward. Government Regulation No. 43 of 2018 on The Procedures for Implementing Community Participation and Providing Rewards in the Prevention and Eradication of Acts of Corruption (“GR No. 43/2018”) was signed on 17 September 2018.

Read more about Indonesia’s whistle-blowing system in an opinion piece written by Lia Alizia, Rudy Andreas Sitorus, and Arsa Mufti Yogyandi published by Hukumonline.