Police have been accused of hiding some key facts in their explanation of why they arrested two suspended Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders, causing massive public distrust across the country on Monday.
Legal experts said here Monday the police should drop the case against the KPK deputy chairman, Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah, to avoid losing face and their credibility.
“The police have failed to explain why they should detain the KPK leaders in the first place,” Adrianus Meliala, a criminologist from the University of Indonesia, told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
He said that he was under the impression the police were hiding some facts from the public.
“If the police want to continue with the case then they had better produce solid evidence in order to prove to the public that they have a legitimate case. Failing to do so will only send the message that they are pursuing their own agenda,” Adrianus said.
Observers have expressed their dissatisfaction over the explanation given by National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, who said the police had the right to detain any suspect charged with a jail term of more than five years, and that both Bibit and Chandra had given too many press conferences.
Bambang Widodo Umar, a police expert from the University of Indonesia, concurred with Adrianus, saying that he was disappointed with the way the police had handled the KPK leaders’ case.
“It is clear the police have opted not to explain things transparently to the public. It is no wonder their lack of transparency has drawn public mistrust,” he said.
Bambang strongly urged the police to step forward to announce what the public had demanded they explain in the first place.
“They have no other option left than to explain to the public what evidence they have to continue the case.
“This kind of transparency is exactly what the police need to regain public trust,” said Bambang, who is also a former police official.
However, a legal expert from Muhammadiyah University in Jakarta, Chaerul Huda, criticized the KPK’s response to the police investigation, saying that KPK leaders should take the police officials to court instead of developing “street justice” by trying to attract public sympathy.
“If they really think the detention is against the law then the KPK leaders should take the police to court rather than publicizing the issue through the mass media and NGOs,” he said.
Therefore, he suggested the public wait until the police completed the KPK leaders’ dossiers.
“The trials will be the final chance to measure the police’s integrity in handling the investigation.
“Whether they will be able to collect solid evidence or not will be seen at that point. Thus let us wait for the next phase of the investigation,” he said.
Even after an explanation from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Bambang Hendarso, thousands of members of the Cicak (Love Indonesia, Love the KPK) movement and other civil society groups staged massive rallies in Jakarta and many other major cities across the country on Monday.
While giving out black ribbons to people as a symbol of support for the two KPK deputies taken into police custody last Thursday, they said the police and the President were still not listening to public calls for justice.
Bibit and Chandra were declared suspects on Sept. 15 for alleged abuses of power and bribery.
Public speculation the two KPK officials were being framed was recently supported by a widely published transcript of voice recordings detailing plans by the police and the Attorney General’s Office to fabricate evidence to frame the pair in criminal cases.
In addition to high-ranking police and AGO officials, the recordings, set to be played before the Constitutional Court on Tuesday, also mention Yudhoyono.
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