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Crisis averted as police call off raid on KPK
Jakarta Post - February 7, 2015
Responding to reports that a group of police investigators had descended on the KPK headquarters in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Friday afternoon to collect evidence for criminal cases involving a number of KPK commissioners, acting National Police chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti said the police had followed Jokowi's instruction to refrain from inflammatory actions until his return on Tuesday of next week.
"We must not do anything that could trigger unrest, such as arrests or raids," Badrodin said. He went on to explain that police personnel in the vicinity of the KPK headquarters were there to conduct regular patrols.
"The National Police were only present in front of the KPK's headquarters because there were demonstrations from people who supported the KPK and another group that is against the KPK. We couldn't allow them to clash," Badrodin said.
In anticipation of a possible raid by the police, protesters who supported the antigraft body gathered in front of the KPK's headquarters, marking the largest concentration of protesters since the KPK-police standoff started in early January.
The protest also attracted supporters of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), which has called for the KPK and the police to go through the legal process to find a solution to their disagreement.
A PDI-P-linked group called the Alliance to Save the KPK (ASI) pressed both the police and the KPK to respect the ongoing legal process. As the sun began to set, no incidents had been reported and the protesters started leaving the KPK headquarters.
Despite a fresh crisis being averted on Friday, stormclouds continue to loom over the KPK, which faces paralysis, since all of its commissioners now face criminal charges.
There are unconfirmed reports that all KPK investigators and staff would resign en masse if all KPK leaders were named suspects by the police. The KPK leadership is also expected to return their mandates to President Jokowi soon so that he can set up an interim leadership of the antigraft body.
KPK prevention unit deputy Johan Budi said Jokowi was responsible for attacks against the KPK and that he should take efforts to stop the criminalization of KPK leaders.
Responding to the threat, cabinet secretary Andi Widjajanto called on all KPK personnel to refrain from doing anything hastily.
Andi promised that the standoff would end once Jokowi returned from his overseas visit. "The President will make a decision soon. So please wait for the President to return," he said on Friday.
Contacted separately, KPK commissioner Zulkarnain dampened speculations that all KPK personnel were set to resign from their posts. "I don't want to jump to conclusions too soon. Let us look for evidence in all accusations," Zulkarnain told reporters.
Meanwhile, a member of the Civil Society Coalition and founder of the Indonesian chapter of an online petition website, Usman Hamid, said that by prevaricating in making a decision on the standoff between the KPK and the police, Jokowi had lost his credibility.
"In our opinion, there has never been a case where the credibility of a president has dropped to the level that he is at right now. His sluggishness in making any decision has turned all state institutions into laughing stocks," Usman said in a press briefing on Friday.
United Development Party (PPP) lawmaker Arsul Sani urged the police to postpone their criminal investigations into KPK commissioners.
"The National Police need to be wise. There is no urgency to continue their investigation into the cases as they will not have expired by the time the current KPK commissioners conclude their term at the end of the year," the member of House of Representatives' Commission III overseeing legal affairs said.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/02/07/crisis-averted-police-call-raid-kpk.html.
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