[postlink]https://gustav-javamedia.blogspot.com/2009/09/kpk-versus-police.html[/postlink]SBY Steers Clear of Spat Between Indonesia's Anti-Corruption Agency and Police
Despite rising tensions between the National Police and the Corruption Eradication Commission, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has no intention of stepping in to resolve matters, a presidential aide said on Friday.
Capping months of open animosity between the two sides, the police on Friday questioned four commissioners from the antigraft body, also known as the KPK, as witnesses in a case of suspected bribery involving commission officials, businessman Anggoro Widjaja and his company PT Masaro Radiokom.
Meanwhile, the KPK has officially begun its investigation into how $200 million was withdrawn from troubled PT Bank Century when its funds had been frozen following its collapse and takeover by the government last year. A senior police officer is believed to be embroiled in the case.
Although the officer was only identified by his initials, SD, he is widely believed to be Susno Duadji, the National Police’s chief detective, who led the investigation into the scandal.
“Let the legal process continue in accordance with the rules of the game,” said Denny Indrayana, the president’s special adviser on legal affairs. “Evidence must speak for itself in legal matters. Justice is linked to evidence and the president will not enter that territory.”
Yudhoyono, he said, was well aware of the ongoing friction between the two agencies, but believed that it was merely a matter of “poor coordination.”
Denny said the president had reminded all sides that the country’s fight against corruption should not be affected.
“The steps taken in these cases should not weaken the corruption-eradication agenda. Whatever their differing positions, there should be a clear separation between the KPK and the police as institutions,” Denny quoted the president as saying.
He dismissed speculation that the two sides were using the cases to undermine each other.
“What we are talking about is not a matter of weakening the KPK or the police, but legal actions against individual violators of the law, wherever they come from, the KPK or the police,” Denny said.
The media over the past couple of months have played up the tensions between the two institutions as a fight between a cicak (gecko) and a buaya (crocodile), using Susno’s descriptions of the police as a large predator and the KPK a hapless lizard.
On Friday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla also waded into the debate, echoing the president’s sentiments that it had been blown out of proportion.
“No Indonesian citizen is above the law. Being investigated does not mean that the person concerned has done something wrong,” Kalla was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara.
The four KPK deputy chiefs summoned by the police — Chandra M Hamzah, Bibit Samad Rianto, M Jasin and Haryono Umar — were questioned on Friday following allegations by suspended KPK chief Antasari Azhar that Anggoro had admitted to him that he had bribed commission officials.
Anggoro’s company had been probed by the KPK for having bribed lawmakers to win a Ministry of Forestry project for the provision of radio equipment.
Meanwhile, the KPK is looking into how Boedi Sampoerna, a scion of the powerful Sampoerna family, managed to withdraw $200 million from Century despite a freeze on the bank’s funds. They said they found that the money had been released after a letter signed by a senior police officer had assured officials the funds were not problematic.
House Speaker Agung Laksono also aired his hopes that the two cases would not inflame lingering tensions between the two agencies, although any moves to quell the feud by freezing the cases would only hurt the public’s sense of justice.
Despite rising tensions between the National Police and the Corruption Eradication Commission, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has no intention of stepping in to resolve matters, a presidential aide said on Friday.
Capping months of open animosity between the two sides, the police on Friday questioned four commissioners from the antigraft body, also known as the KPK, as witnesses in a case of suspected bribery involving commission officials, businessman Anggoro Widjaja and his company PT Masaro Radiokom.
Meanwhile, the KPK has officially begun its investigation into how $200 million was withdrawn from troubled PT Bank Century when its funds had been frozen following its collapse and takeover by the government last year. A senior police officer is believed to be embroiled in the case.
Although the officer was only identified by his initials, SD, he is widely believed to be Susno Duadji, the National Police’s chief detective, who led the investigation into the scandal.
“Let the legal process continue in accordance with the rules of the game,” said Denny Indrayana, the president’s special adviser on legal affairs. “Evidence must speak for itself in legal matters. Justice is linked to evidence and the president will not enter that territory.”
Yudhoyono, he said, was well aware of the ongoing friction between the two agencies, but believed that it was merely a matter of “poor coordination.”
Denny said the president had reminded all sides that the country’s fight against corruption should not be affected.
“The steps taken in these cases should not weaken the corruption-eradication agenda. Whatever their differing positions, there should be a clear separation between the KPK and the police as institutions,” Denny quoted the president as saying.
He dismissed speculation that the two sides were using the cases to undermine each other.
“What we are talking about is not a matter of weakening the KPK or the police, but legal actions against individual violators of the law, wherever they come from, the KPK or the police,” Denny said.
The media over the past couple of months have played up the tensions between the two institutions as a fight between a cicak (gecko) and a buaya (crocodile), using Susno’s descriptions of the police as a large predator and the KPK a hapless lizard.
On Friday, Vice President Jusuf Kalla also waded into the debate, echoing the president’s sentiments that it had been blown out of proportion.
“No Indonesian citizen is above the law. Being investigated does not mean that the person concerned has done something wrong,” Kalla was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara.
The four KPK deputy chiefs summoned by the police — Chandra M Hamzah, Bibit Samad Rianto, M Jasin and Haryono Umar — were questioned on Friday following allegations by suspended KPK chief Antasari Azhar that Anggoro had admitted to him that he had bribed commission officials.
Anggoro’s company had been probed by the KPK for having bribed lawmakers to win a Ministry of Forestry project for the provision of radio equipment.
Meanwhile, the KPK is looking into how Boedi Sampoerna, a scion of the powerful Sampoerna family, managed to withdraw $200 million from Century despite a freeze on the bank’s funds. They said they found that the money had been released after a letter signed by a senior police officer had assured officials the funds were not problematic.
House Speaker Agung Laksono also aired his hopes that the two cases would not inflame lingering tensions between the two agencies, although any moves to quell the feud by freezing the cases would only hurt the public’s sense of justice.
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