New police chief vows greater respect for democracy

Indra Harsaputra ,  THE JAKARTA POST ,  Surabaya   |  Wed, 11/04/2009 2:24 PM  |  East Java

East Java Police chief Brig. Gen. Pratiknjo, newly appointed to replace Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam, says he will not stop people staging rallies in protest against the arrests of antigraft leaders.

Speaking after his inauguration Tuesday, also attended by East Java Deputy Governor Saifullah Yusuf, Pratiknjo said freedom of expression through a rally was protected under the law.

"Besides, demonstrations are also part of democracy, which is an integral part of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's 100-day program," he said.

Before assuming his new post, Pratiknjo served as head of the National Police's intelligence and security division.

Former provincial police chief Anton has been named an expert adviser to the National Police chief.

Pratiknjo said he would also help maintain democracy by ensuring the 18 regional elections planned for next year would be conducted freely and fairly.

"We will maintain our professionalism by maintaining the police's neutrality in the process," Pratiknjo said.

He added his office would also try its best to minimize disputes during the elections.

He said another of his priorities would be to help carry through Yudhoyono's 100-day plans in welfare and justice.

"In terms of public welfare, we will support regional administrations by waging a war on illegal logging, illegal quarrying and illegal fishing, to help increase the income of the each region," he said.

In term of justice, he went on, his office was looking to improve its cooperation with other stakeholders, including prosecutors and the judiciary.

"Such cooperation in necessary to make the legal processes run smoothly and quickly," Pratiknjo said.

Anton, for his part, apologized to the people of East Java for his shortcomings as police chief over the past eight months.

"I apologize if I haven't contributed much," he said.

"I've been more focused on changing the police force's attitude to strengthen its morality and prevent police officers from being arrogant."

Anton's short time as the East Java police chief was not without its controversies.

He was denounced by rights activist for halting an investigation into alleged negligence on the part of Lapindo Brantas Inc., which is widely believed to have caused the mudflow disaster in Porong, Sidoarjo.

The disaster has caused estimated losses of Rp 27.5 trillion.

Anton's reason for calling a halt at that time was lack of evidence, as presented by expert witnesses, that the mudflow had anything to do with the company's drilling activities.

His excuse, however, was decried by one of the expert witnesses, Rudi Rubiandini from the Bandung Institute of Technology, who claimed the experts included in the case file were only those in support of Lapindo.

Eleven other experts, including from state oil and gas company PT Pertamina and other oil and gas companies, stated there must have been something wrong with the drilling activities, but their testimonies were not included in the case file.

Activists and legal experts have also blasted Anton for failing to wrap up a number of corruption cases, including the Simpang Lima Gumul case in Kediri in 2004 that caused estimated state losses of Rp 300 billion.

Anton's time in office, however, was also marked by his success in bringing in public service innovation to enable people to pay their vehicle tax much more efficiently.

The so-called "Samsat Drive Thru" that he introduced has since been hailed as a breakthrough, with plans currently in the works to implement it nationwide.

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