A heart-attack patient’s perspective on mega-corruption wiretapping

Kornelius Purba ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 11/04/2009 10:47 AM  |  Headlines

It is no exaggeration to say millions of Indonesians felt outraged at the shameless expression on Anggodo Widjojo’s face as he stressed his innocence in a TV interview. Just a few hours before the interview, the Constitutional Court had played tape recordings showing very clearly that Anggodo played a central role in a systematic effort to jail two anticorruption officials.

Millions of Indonesians were also shocked to see how President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono washed his hands of the mega-corruption case by shifting his responsibility to uphold the truth to a small group of lawyers and experts. Millions of Indonesians were also fed up with National Police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji for their perfect acting, as if they knew nothing about the scandal.

But Hendarman was smarter than Bambang. As soon as he caught wind of the widespread public protest, he avoided the media. Bambang was too slow on this count. The President has threatened to sue those who “sold” his name in the corruption case. But why has the President not taken any meaningful action against Hendarman and Bambang?

And do not just condemn them. Please (again please) look at the problem from a different angle.

Think out of the box. There are so many Indonesians who were upset when the government and the House of Representatives tried to curtail the power of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to wiretap alleged corrupt officials.

An old friend from Medan, North Sumatra, came to see me Monday, the day before the Constitutional Court played the tape recordings that contain bugged conversations featuring several law enforcers and businesspeople. He strongly condemned the judges who had allowed TV stations to broadcast Tuesday’s hearing live. He also insisted we should defend the police chief, senior prosecutors, attorneys and businesspeople whose human rights were grossly violated by the court allowing their recorded voices to be heard by the public.

I was a bit shocked, because like me, he belongs to the category of citizens who almost never see anything good in the government.

“What if [that kind of treatment] was given to you?” he said, looking deep into my eyes. I avoided the eye contact. I could guess what he meant, as he had known me many years.

He was rushed to hospital several months ago after suffering a serious heart attack. He was unconscious for several days.

“You know what came out of my mouth when I recovered?” he asked.

“Of course you asked where your beloved wife was,” I answered in half-disbelief.

“No, stupid. The first thing I asked was, ‘Where’s my cell phone?’” he laughed. He said he was lucky it was his youngest child who kept the phone and not his wife.

“My child only whispered to me, ‘Papa, why should you [switch off the phone]?’”

Now he practices every day switching off his phone quickly whenever he senses something wrong with his heart.

I know last year his wife physically “wiretapped” him when he called someone. But like Anggodo, senior prosecutors Wisnu Subroto and Abdul Hakim Ritonga, and police chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, who insisted their innocence in a stone-faced expression, my friend also swore he was calling a man and not a woman. His wife never believed his excuse, but her husband acted so perfectly that she then hesitated over the quality of her own ear.

You can claim you will never commit crimes, you can also swear you will never be corrupt or betray your country and nation. But are you sure that you never, and will never, betray your loved ones — be it wife, husband, lover, parents or children?

Do you have a cell phone? Have ever experienced a personal trouble because of it? Let me share the experience of a friend after suffering a heart attack. Trust me you should learn from his experience.

Do not laugh, one day it can happen to you.

As the wiretapping is so effective, no wonder that in the near future Chinese or Japanese companies
will flood our market with cheap but sophisticated bugging equipment. You still do not understand what I mean? The danger is very clear for you just a few millimeters from your own eyes.

Many Indonesians feel satisfied about being able to hear directly the bugged conversations. But remember, one day you may follow the behavior of our President, attorney general, police chief or anyone whose telephone conversations were tapped by the KPK or other agencies.

One day your child, wife or husband may come to you and say, “Let’s listen to your own telephone conversation.” I bet you will remember the excellent acting of Anggodo, prosecutor Wisnu and police general Susno. Or just wash your hands of the whole deal, like our President.

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