A statement by the Association for Provincial Governments that they are ready to be sentenced to death if convicted of graft (evoking memories of the widely ridiculed statement by high-profile graft convict Anas Urbaningrum who said he would hang himself from the National Monument if found guilty) has been dismissed as a publicity stunt after the group went on to condemn the media for exposing corruption cases involving regional heads and proposing that they be investigated internally before criminal proceedings are initiated.