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Activists call on new chief of detectives to review Waseso's cases against KPK officials
Jakarta Globe - September 4, 2015
Rumors of Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso's ouster from the post, the second-most powerful in the force after that of the police chief, began on Wednesday and were finally confirmed late on Thursday when Gen. Badrodin Haiti, the police chief, announced that Waseso had been moved to head up the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) in a trade with BNN chief Comr. Gen. Anang Iskandar.
"Yes, it's true, Anang from the BNN has switched places with the chief of detectives," Badrodin wrote in a brief text message to reporters.
Waseso has courted controversy since taking up the post of chief detective, largely by spearheading a campaign to undermine the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
A self-proclaimed acolyte of deputy police chief Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, Waseso launched a series of suspiciously timed and dubious investigations against KPK officials after the antigraft body charged Gunawan with bribery and money-laundering in January, in connection with undeclared millions of dollars in transactions through his personal bank accounts.
Under Waseso's watch, the police's detectives' unit has pursued criminal investigations against two KPK commissioners – chairman Abraham Samad and deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto – and senior investigator Novel Baswedan on trumped-up charges going back up to a decade.
Waseso has also opened a criminal investigation against supporters of the highly regarded KPK, charging two Judicial Commission members with slander for criticizing a court ruling that cleared Gunawan of all charges. Waseso's office also charged former deputy justice minister Denny Indrayana with corruption after Denny sided with the KPK in the brouhaha.
These cases have spurred thousands to demand Waseso's removal through an online petition.
Waseso also earned the ire of the government in recent weeks, with high-profile raids on state-owned port operator Pelindo II and the Pertamina Foundation. Pelindo II chief Richard J. Lino threatened to resign and even brought the matter up to several ministers and Vice President Jusuf Kalla, denouncing the police raid on his office – with a media entourage in tow – as excessive and unwarranted.
Waseso claims that Pelindo II, under Lino, squandered billions in state funds on the purchase of container cranes, a charge that the port operator has strenuously denied by citing independent audits showing the purchases were justified.
Trimedya Pandjaitan, a deputy chairman of the House of Representatives' House Commission III, overseeing legal affairs, said he would recommend that the commission set up an inquiry committee into the Pelindo case in light of Waseso's removal.
He called the removal "highly politicized," and said Waseso was the "victim" of business interests. (No one from the House used those words to describe the police's treatment of the KPK officials mired in trumped-up charges.)
"We deplore the lack of support [for Waseso] from the police force, because he was a victim of the Pelindo case. That's why Commission III will set up a special committee on Pelindo, so that the investigation that Waseso started can continue," said Trimedya, a PDI-P member.
Re-examination
One of Waseso's most outspoken critics, Ahmad "Buya" Syafii Maarif, has urged Anang to review all the investigations launched by Waseso, particularly those involving KPK leaders Abraham and Bambang and their supporters.
"Re-examine [the cases] and see whether they are truly based on solid evidence or based on certain interests," said Syafii, a former chairman of Muhammadiyah, the country's second-biggest Islamic organization.
Syafii, a former member of a team appointed by the president earlier this year to quell the hostilities between the police and the KPK, previously blasted Waseso as being "mentally unstable," and said "This chief of detectives doesn't understand detective work. He doesn't have the least bit of competence or professionalism."
Legal expert Rasyid Alam Perkasa Nasution noted that despite embarking on a flurry of high-profile investigations, the detectives' unit under Waseso had failed to bring a single suspect to trial – a strong indication that the cases were weak and/or trumped up to begin with.
Waseso "has done nothing but cause controversy," Rasyid said, criticizing the police general's transparently brazen attempts to ape the KPK's method of breaking open major corruption cases.
"Law enforcement [under Waseso] has been nothing more than a show. What has the detectives' unit accomplished this whole time? Compare that with the KPK, which delivers results," Rasyid said.
Restoring ties
Anang, meanwhile, said he hoped to restore ties with the KPK, which have deteriorated since Waseso took office in January.
"The success of my role [as chief of detectives] relies on building good cooperation with the KPK, PPATK" – the government's anti-money-laundering watchdog, which first flagged the irregularities in Budi Gunawan's accounts – "and other agencies which have the same function in our criminal justice system," Anang told Detik.com on Friday.
Anang said it was important to restore ties with the KPK, noting the rampant corruption within the police force and the BNN, with officers often treating criminal suspects as "walking ATMs" in systematic shakedowns.
"There are certain individuals with the authority to handle drug cases who are taking advantage of their position by way of extortion, offering to lessen charges in exchange for a payoff, providing protection to [drug smuggling] rings and even becoming drug dealers. They are turning drug [suspects] into walking ATMs," Anang said.
He added that under his watch, the BNN had consulted extensively with the KPK to address the problem. Cooperation with the antigraft commission, he went on, has led to better supervision of drug cases and the investigators handling them, something that Anang said he was keen to emulate in his new post.
"The goal is for the KPK to monitor rogue law-enforcement officers," he said – a stark contrast from the stance adopted by Waseso.
Anang said there was no reason the National Police, widely perceived as the most corrupt government institution in the republic, could not adopt the continuous-evaluation model in use at the BNN. "All we have to do is replicate in the detectives' unit what we have established at the BNN," he said.
The KPK, meanwhile, has expressed its readiness to cooperate with the new chief of detectives. "For the KPK, it is important to build communication and synergy between law enforcers," KPK interim deputy chairman Indriyanto Seno Adji said as quoted by Detik.com.
Still 'ferocious'
For Waseso, the move to the BNN comes as a "reward." "I think this is a regular rotation for rejuvenation purposes and the good of the [police] institution. I don't think we should make a fuss about it," Waseso told reporters in Jakarta on Friday.
"I'm becoming the BNN chief. This is a position directly under the president. So this is a reward." He added that he would live up to his nickname of Buwas, which sounds like buas, the Indonesian word for ferocious, in his new role at the BNN.
"You will see my performance at the BNN. I will conduct an internal reform, optimize the BNN's strength. This is a challenging role because this involves powerful drug syndicates and mafia. We have to be fierce," he said.
Cleaning house
The official memo issued on Friday announcing Waseso's transfer also listed his deputy, Insp. Gen. Johnny Mangasi Samosir, and his director of special and economic crimes, Brig. Gen. Victor Simandjuntak, as among those being moved in what the police force calls a "routine rotation."
Victor, who will be replaced by Brig Gen. Bambang Waskito, the National Police's head of operations, had earlier this week claimed that he would quit if Waseso was forced out of office.
Badrodin responded by warning all of Waseso's subordinated to be "loyal only to the force," and on Friday indicated that Victor was made to retire because of his comments.
"The person is retiring so he can say whatever he wants," Badrodin told reporters at the State Palace. "So what if he threatens to resign? Even if he didn't make such a threat, he was due to be replaced anyway."
Victor has been involved in nearly all the controversial investigations Waseso has instigated since taking the post of chief of detectives in January, particularly the cases against officials from the KPK.
House support
Waseso, though publicly maligned, has garnered support from the House, which has repeatedly tried to curtail the KPK's powers and whose members continue to provide fodder for the commission's ongoing series of high-profile arrests.
"The government should be supporting [Waseso's] efforts to unravel corruption cases that cost hundreds of trillions [of rupiah]," said Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) legislator Aboebakar Al Habsyi.
"[His] removal is part of efforts to undermine the [police's] credibility in fighting corruption."
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