I

t appears the public and officials have not seen eye to eye in this week's legal storm. Like the fairytale, The Emperor's New Clothes, the former sees the Emperor is without clothes while the latter thinks he is dressed.

Public rallies in cities, views expressed by scholars and almost a million Facebook users have urged the authorities to arrest at least three people believed to have worked together to undermine the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

They are businessman Anggodo Widjojo, National Police chief detective Susno Duadji and Deputy Attorney General Abdul Hakim Ritonga.

Their names featured highly during a hearing at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday when a tape recording of a wiretapped conversation reportedly unveiled their conspiracy.

Police said there was not sufficient evidence to detain Anggodo whereas lawyers believed the taped conversation showed he was guilty.

The most President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did was ask the two officials be suspended. This did not happen as both the National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji did not ask their subordinates to resign, let alone sack them.

Ritonga has tendered his resignation and Susno has filed for temporary suspension. Meaning, Susno will be back in his position after this debacle is over.

Resignation is certainly not enough. Although it is a rarity in the country's leadership culture anyway. Sacking, followed up by a thorough investigation into the case and harshly punishing the perpetrators is more appropriate.

The public can be forgiven for inferring these two people are members of the untouchables.

The historical broadcast of the recording heard at the court reveals there were many "adventurers" among our top leaders in key law enforcement institutions. They earn billions of rupiah on each case that is brokered, equivalent to hundreds of thousands of US dollars.

This mocks the ruling that requires officials to reveal their wealth at the start of their term.

In Thursday night's hearing with the new House of Representatives members, the police chief accused KPK deputies Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra Hamzah of receiving bribes from a businessman. The two deputies denied the charges Friday.

With two high-ranking law enforcement officials gone, the "gecko" seems to have defeated the "crocodile". With that, the famous line coined by Susno has been overturned.

"How could a gecko challenge a crocodile?" he asked in an interview in July, referring to the battle between the police and the Attorney General's Office in one camp and the KPK in the other.

But the fact-finding team tasked to question the two has no power to prosecute them. Hence, the uproar will end up in theatrics.

If past prosecutions are any guide, no more heads will roll and Susno will be back in his position, unscathed.

The so-called "court mafia" and unscrupulous officials will be back in business as usual. Haven't they already survived the first five-year term of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono untouched?

We can almost hear one of them whisper: "The majority of the people are indifferent. They are meek, obedient and not very smart."

For the time being, the "gecko" has overpowered the "crocodile".