SPECULATIONS ARISING ON POLICE MOTIVE IN ANTI-GRAFT COMMISSIONERS' ARREST

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 30 (ANTARA) - The detention of suspended Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputies Bibit Samat Riyanto and Chandra M Hamzah on Thursday has sparked speculations that police are trying to cover up a wire-tapped conversation which allegedly indicated a plot to fabricate a case that would bring down the two deputies and undermine the KPK.

        "We are afraid that the detention is an effort to cover up reports on the recordings which were allegedly a fabrication to get the two KPK deputies jailed," Zainal Arifin, coordinator of the Anti-Corruption Research Center (PuKat) of Gajah Mada Univsity, said on Friday.

        On Thursday, police detained Bibit Samad and Chandra Hamzah who had been named suspects over alleged abuse of authority with regard to the issuance of a travel ban on businessman Anggoro Widjojo and also the issuance of a travel ban and later its revocation for businessman Djoko Tjandra.

        The arrest has drawn mixed reactions. Many saw the case as the result of a rivalry between the KPK and Police. Earlier, over the investigation of its deputies, the KPK accused the National Police's chief detective, Commissioner General Susno Duaji, of carrying out nonprocedural examinations, and the police had thus acted against the two KPK vice chairmen on trumped-up charges.

        In order not to make the public confused, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono summoned National Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri and other related ministers to discuss the matter on Friday.

        The president asked the police chief to give the public an explanation about the arrest of two suspended KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission) leaders. "Please explain the matter to the public to clear it up," President Yudhoyono said prior to a closed-door meeting .

        President Yudhoyono himself said the detention of Bibit Samad Riyanto and Chandra Hamzah was not due to an institutional conflict between police and the KPK. This must be explained to the public.

        "The president said that he kept on monitoring developments of the KPK case, where its deputies Bibit and Chandra have been detained. He stressed that it was not an institutional conflict. It was a legal matter being handled by police, KPK and the prosecutors that involved individuals," Minister of Communications and Informatics Tifatul Sembiring who attended the meeting said. "Therefore, the president stressed that the problem should be left to the legal procedure," the minister said.

        In the meantime, National Police Chief General Bambang Hendarso Danuri said police decided to detain Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samat Riyanto because they had hindered investigations into their case. "Because they hindered the investigations, the police took them into custody as they are authorized to do under the law," Danuri said at a press conference.

        Danuri said police investigators remained confident that Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto had received a bribe from businessman Anggoro Widjojo, director of PT Masaro Radiokom who was allegedly involved in a corruption case in connection with an Integrated Radio Communication System (SKRT) project in the Ministry of Forestry. The case was handled by KPK.

        The Police chief admitted however it was difficult to charge a person in bribery case if she or he was not caught red-handed but (in this case) there were witnesses who supported the allegation.

        He admitted that up to now police did not yet have evidence of the alleged Rp6.7 billion bribe given to Chandra and Bibit in August and September last year. "The money reportedly did not reach both suspects but there was a suspicious effort, namely a travel ban," he said.

        Danuri said that even though the travel bans had been issued for businessmen Anggoro Widjoyo and Djoko Tjandra, the KPK did not follow up the bans with investigations until one year later. "Travel bans had been issued but the cases were not investigated. They began to investigate only when police began their own investigation," he said.

        The police chief said that police had submitted the dossiers of the two KPK deputies to the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

        Danuri also explained that police had also named Ari Muladi as a suspect, not in a bribery case but rather for fraud. Police released Ari four days before his detention period was completed because police found it difficult to complete his dossiers.

        In this case, Anggodo Wijdojo, younger brother of Anggoro Widjoyo, a KPK fugitive, had handed over bribe money several times amounting to Rp7.6 billion in August and September.

        The money was allegedly given to the KPK leaders in an attempt to persuade the KPK to lift the travel ban on Anggoro. However, Anggodo did not give the money directly to the KPK leaders but through Ari Muladi. Ari then gave the money to someone known only by the initial Y who up to now is still at large.

        However, all this was based on an alleged wiretapped conversation which is a plot design to undermined the KPK and frame two of its deputies.

        Minister of Law and Human Rights Affairs Patrialis Akbar, therefore, called on the KPK leadership in whose possession the recording now was to open it to the public. "The recording had better be opened to the public so that the people will not speculate on the issue," the minister said.***4*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/23:45/H-YH) (T.A014/A/A014/A/H-YH) 31-10-2009 00:06:40