Mafia Hukum and Reformasi
Even at the height of the Suharto era, the Mafia Hukum was probably not all-powerful
and pervasive. Now especially in the era of Reformasi, many police, judges, and
others would like to see their institutions professionalized and transformed to
respect the rule of law. They have a tough battle against entrenched interests,
however.
The reality of power
In the politics of institutions, power must be used to remain effective. In institutions
where reformers are seeking change, the old guard Mafia Hukum must continually
demonstrate power or risk losing it.
Money is one incentive to corruption and collusion, of course, but another incentive
is simply continuous necessity to exercise control.
Not every case backed by the Mafia Hukum is about money. Always more important than
money is the demonstration that the central actors have the means and the will to
win.
Demonstrating power and protecting the client base
Earlier we said that Mafia Hukum promote illegal activities to make money,
but that is not the entire story; Mafia Hukum also promote or protect illegal activities
to assert power.
With Reformasi and active public support for often effective anti-corruption watchdogs
such as the KPK, exposure after failing to protect one's base could end not only
in officials being fired from office, but even in prison sentences.
Because the primary audience and clients for the Mafia Hukum are of course Indonesian
citizens—especially considering that most expatriates are completely unaware of
the existence of the Mafia Hukum—they almost always champion Indonesians in battles
against expatriates regardless of the money involved.
Expatriates are among the easiest victims because they are largely unaware of what
really happened to them, they usually speak Indonesian poorly, and they are unable
to stir up significant interest from the Indonesian media or public.
This is why expatriates who report crimes to Indonesian police are so often disappointed
in the results.