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KPK throws in towel against cop
Jakarta Post - March 3, 2015
With its key officials facing criminalization, the KPK has made a historic decision to transfer Budi's legal case to the Attorney General's Office (AGO), which intends on handing it over to the graft-ridden National Police for investigation.
Acting National Police chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti has voiced the possibility that the case could be halted if the police find insufficient evidence to continue.
"The KPK and the National Police agree that the status of Budi's case is that of a preliminary investigation after a pretrial decision annulled Budi's suspect status," said Badrodin, who is known as a close associate of Budi.
"Whether the case progresses into a primary investigation depends on the gathered evidence. But even if the case progresses, there is also the possibility of stopping it."
Attacks on the KPK intensified after it named Budi, who was earlier nominated as National Police chief and in a confidant of Jokowi's patron and chairwoman of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Megawati Soekarnoputri, a graft suspect.
The KPK alleges that Budi accepted bribes from fellow officers in their attempts to attain promotions when he was assigned as the National Police's chief for promotion and career development.
Acting KPK chairman Taufiequrachman Ruki said the AGO had received Budi's dossiers from the KPK to be examined based on the agency's recommendation that it would be "effective" should the AGO agree to pass the case to the National Police on the grounds that they had investigated Budi's case in 2012.
"We have admitted defeat, but it does not mean that we will also give up on other cases as we are also investigating 36 other cases," said Ruki, a retired police general. "We don't want this one case [Budi's] to disrupt other cases. We will also have to face many pretrial hearings in near future."
The KPK made the announcement after holding a closed-door meeting with Attorney General M. Prasetyo, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna H. Laoly, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno and Badrodin at KPK headquarters on Monday.
Acting KPK commissioner Johan Budi said he believed that by surrendering the case to the AGO, the KPK could prevent the police from summoning the agency's investigators and directors in a number of criminal probes. "Such conditions create an uncomfortable atmosphere at the KPK," Johan said.
The KPK has already lost its chairman, Abraham Samad, and a commissioner, Bambang Widjojanto, both of whom resigned after the police named them suspects in separate cases many say were engineered by police.
Around 21 investigators assigned by the police to the commission will be named suspects by the National Police for their failure to renew their gun licenses. The commission's highly decorated investigator, Comr. Novel Baswedan, also faces the possibility of detention in connection to a murder case.
Following the deal, Badrodin said the police were "considering reviewing" nine other criminal cases implicating KPK directors and investigators. "I will establish communication with the plaintiffs so that in the future they will not file any complaints against us if we stop investigating the nine cases," Badrodin said.
Prasetyo argued that the deal to hand over the case was aimed at forging a "harmonious relationship" between the KPK and the police, but it would not necessarily compromise the prosecution of Abraham and Bambang.
"But as of now I'm not sure whether I can use my prerogative rights as a prosecutor to halt the case from going to trial for the sake of the public interest," said the NasDem Party politician.
The hand over decision has angered the majority of KPK officials, including investigators, who inform reporters that they would stage a protest at the KPK headquarters in South Jakarta against the decision.
"On Tuesday at 9 a.m. we will voice our stance as KPK officials regarding the decision. We will sign a white canvas to express our thoughts on the decision made today [Monday]," KPK officials said in a statement on Monday.
Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said that the police's victory had sent a clear message to the public.
"No one can prevent the police from attacking the KPK, including the President himself. This sets a bad precedenT and we are worried that more attacks will come from the police in the future," Emerson Yuntho of ICW said.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/03/03/kpk-throws-towel-against-cop.html.
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