The police intend to find the reason behind the decision of graft suspect Ary Mulyadi to retract his written testimony to the police in a case implicating the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
National Police chief spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarna said Wednesday he expected that Ary's integrity would help the police figure out the situation.
"We need to know the whole story behind his decision to make the first statement," he said.
The director of the anticorruption office, Brig. Gen. Yovianes Mahar, promised that the police would reconsider all evidence that had been used in the investigation.
"We will reevaluate all the evidence as we continue the investigation," he said, but refused to elaborate.
Ary is one of the suspects in the Masaro bribery case that allegedly involves several KPK leaders.
He is currently being detained at the National Police detention center for further questioning.
He originally signed a written statement stating that he had collected the Rp 6 billion (US$640,000) bribe from Anggoro Widjojo, payment for halting the investigation of an alleged graft case involving Anggoro's company PT Masaro Radiokom.
However, later Ary retracted his statement, saying that, in fact, he was not the one who had handed over the bribe money to the KPK leaders.
Through his lawyer, Sugeng Teguh Santoso, Ary told the police that he was forced, by Anggoro's brother Anggodo Widjojo, into signing the written statement.
"My client has no links with the KPK leaders," Sugeng said, as quoted by Suara Karya daily.
Instead, he continued, the police should seriously consider making Anggodo a suspect in the graft case, accusing Anggodo of being behind the whole thing.
However, he refused to reveal the motive that drove his client to sign the first written testimony.
Both Ary and Anggodo are key witnesses against suspended KPK deputy chiefs Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah.
The police accused Bibit and Chandra of alleged abuse of power in issuing travel bans on Anggoro and Djoko S. Tjandra (who are now at large) as well as lifting a travel ban on Djoko.
The allegations against Bibit and Chandra caused a public outcry and there were suggestions that the police had criminalized the KPK deputies for doing their jobs.
The newly installed KPK interim leaders, meanwhile, visited the National Police headquarters on Wednesday morning.
Acting KPK chief Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean said the visit was meant to tighten coordination between the KPK and the National Police, especially in handling corruption case investigations.
"The coordination is going to be formalized in a memorandum of understanding between the police and ourselves," he said.
"I hope the memorandum will significantly contribute as a guide for us to follow in the future."
National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said the police were more than ready to respond to the KPK's signal to cooperate in tackling corruption cases.
Along with their counterparts from the Attorney General's Office (AGO), currently dozens of police officers are still employed by the KPK, acting as KPK investigators.
