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AGO finds lack of evidence in police's case against Novel
Jakarta Post - February 23, 2016
The Attorney General's Office (AGO) said the 12-year-long case failed to reach the prosecution stage before its expiry date last week, since the police had built it on weak evidence.
It said that the gun presented by the police as evidence was unreliable because it was registered under the name of "Polres Bengkulu", while in fact the Bengkulu Police at that time coded their weapons with "Polresta Bengkulu".
"[Lack of evidence and expiry] are the main grounds behind the decision to issue a cessation for the case," junior prosecutor for general crimes (Jampidum) Noor Rachmad told a press briefing.
Novel was accused of shooting a robbery suspect during his tenure as Bengkulu Police chief detective in 2004 but it appeared from the start that the case was fabricated by the police. The National Police reopened the investigation in 2012 after the senior KPK investigator led a graft investigation into then-National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) chief Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo.
Although the case had been halted by an order from then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, it was resurrected last year in the wake of a standoff between the anticorruption agency and the police regarding the legal status of police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan.
The KPK had named the police general a suspect in a bribery case, which had prompted the police to bring up cases against Novel, as well as two former commissioners Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto.
Novel's case had earlier been taken before the Bengkulu District Court after pressure from the police. But the AGO withdrew the case on Feb. 3 following an order from President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo who had instructed Attorney General M. Prasetyo to settle the controversial case immediately.
Jokowi has also instructed the prosecutors' office to end the cases involving Abraham and Bambang.
The AGO's decision to drop Novel's case sends a message to the National Police that it should not be reopened in the future. "With the issue of the cessation letter, the case against Novel has been dropped," Noor said, adding that the AGO had sent the letter to the Bengkulu Prosecutors' Office ordering prosecutors in charge of the case to comply.
The case was heard at the Bengkulu District Court on Jan. 29 and was scheduled for trial on Feb. 16, but Prasetyo, after receiving instructions from Jokowi, ordered the withdrawal of Novel's dossiers from the court, an intervention that managed to prevent the case being tried before its expiry.
The Criminal Code (KUHP) stipulates that law enforcement institutions have a maximum of 12 years to investigate and prosecute a criminal case.
The KPK chairman applauded the AGO's decision, urging the national police not to reopen the case in the future, while another KPK leader Laode Muhammad Syarif said that he expected the AGO to also swiftly drop Abraham and Bambang's cases.
Commission spokesperson Yuyuk Indriati said on the termination of Novel's case, and Bambang's and Abraham's in the future, "It is hoped that there will be no more criminalization of KPK officials in the future."
The KPK's decision to name Budi a suspect in January last year voided Budi's inauguration as the National Police chief after Jokowi canceled the ceremony due it his graft-suspect status. He instead inaugurated former National Police deputy chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti as police chief in February.
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