TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsContradictory police remarks on Gayus case questioned
An antigraft group and a police watchdog questioned the National Police’s contradictory statements regarding its investigation into alleged case brokering practices implicating top officers and fugitive tax official Gayus Tambunan
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
A
n antigraft group and a police watchdog questioned the National Police’s contradictory statements regarding its investigation into alleged case brokering practices implicating top officers and fugitive tax official Gayus Tambunan.
They said this could be seen as an indication that the police lacked the will to conduct a transparent and fair investigation into the scandal.
“We view the police commitment to settling this case as shaky. The misleading statements they have frequently issued are clear indications of this,” Febri Diansyah of Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said Saturday.
After the case brokering scandal broke out, police have issued several statements that they later denied or were proven to be misleading after being confirmed by third parties.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang, for example, said Friday that police had spoken to members of the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) requesting assistance in the investigation of Andi Kosasih, an alleged accomplice of Gayus.
Kompolnas member Adnan Pandu Praja, however, told The Jakarta Post that he knew nothing of the investigation. “From the very beginning, no one has invited us to discussions about how to handle this case,” he said.
Earlier this week, police made remarks regarding the status of former chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, who was reported to the police by Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman and Brig. Gen. Edmond Ilyas. Susno had earlier implied that the two men took bribes from Gayus.
The police said Tuesday that Susno had already been named a suspect pertaining to Edmond’s and Raja’s report. However, they later denied saying this, instead blaming journalists for distorting their statement.
Johnson Pandjaitan of Indonesian Police Watch concurred with Febri, saying that police should involve the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) in the investigation to ensure fairness and impartiality.
“We can no longer expect the police to question their fellow officers. They should let KPK investigators take over the investigation to guarantee objectivity,” he said.
Febri said the KPK should take the initiative to supervise the ongoing investigation because “the anticorruption law states that the KPK has the supervising authority, meaning that they can take over a graft case investigation when necessary”.
The case brokering scandal began when Susno publicly announced that several police officers had received bribes from Gayus, who is alleged to have misused Rp 25 billion in state funds.
Gayus was charged with money laundering and embezzlement, but was acquitted by the Tangerang District Court on March 12. He is said to have fled to Singapore, two days before the police declared him a fugitive.
