AGO likely to `reject KPK leaders' dossier for its own safety'

Dicky Christanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 11/02/2009 1:47 PM  |  Special Report

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) is likely to prevent the case against two Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman as court hearings could implicate its prosecutors in efforts to frame both antigraft leaders.

The release of a voice recording implicating high-ranking officials at the AGO in efforts to frame Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah, the two KPK leaders detained by the police since Thursday last week, has been widely published by the media, while the AGO has failed to produce solid evidence against the two men.

Deputy Attorney General Abdul Hakim Ritonga, one of the top officials often mentioned in the recordings, has suggested the police stop the investigation of Bibit and Chandra if they do not have sufficient evidence.

"If the police are unable to build a case against these KPK leaders then why should they force it from them in the first place? Maybe it would be better for everybody if the police halted the investigation," he told a press conference recently.

Legal experts and antigraft activists said that as well as indicating the AGO's fear of a possible backlash against many of its high-ranking officials, it also suggested the case had no solid evidence.

A legal expert from the University of Indonesia, Rudy Satrio, said the prosecutors would reject the KPK leaders' dossiers if they thought the police had not gathered enough evidence.

"The prosecutors should be able to refuse the dossiers if they consider that the best thing to do because once the prosecutors receive the dossiers then the responsibility is theirs," he said.

An police expert, Bambang Widodo Umar, said the fact the public seemed to trust the content of the transcript, and their subsequent full support of both Bibit and Chandra in the case, had encouraged the prosecutors to wash their hands and blame the police.

"Besides, the police have failed to convince the public they have solid evidence that can prove the two KPK chairmen are guilty," he said.

The widely distributed recordings are allegedly of conversations between middleman Ary Muladi, Anggodo Widjojo (the brother of graft suspect Anggoro Widjojo) and several high-ranking officials from the AGO's office and the police, that discuss the framing of Bibit and Chandra.

In the conversation, between an unidentified woman and a man believed to be Anggodo, Yudhoyono allegedly supported the action.

National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji both questioned the validity of the recordings. However, acting KPK chairman Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean has confirmed their existence.

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