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Police to name more suspects in case brokerage mess
National Police chief Gen
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ational Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso said Monday the police would name new suspects in the Gayus Tambunan graft case, as investigators questioned witnesses regarding their roles in the notoriously corrupt Indonesian legal system.
Bambang made the statement during a working meeting with House of Representative Commission III overseeing legal and human rights affairs on Monday.
“This is still being investigated by an independent team. God willing, new suspects will be revealed this week,” he said, without elaborating further.
The police have so far named eight suspects identified as GT, HH, LAM, AK, A Kun, SJ, AR and SS in the Gayus case.
Four prosecutors handling the case, Cirus Sinaga, Fadil Regan, Eka Kurnia and Ika Safitri, were questioned by the police on Monday.
“They will be questioned as witnesses,” police spokesman Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis said.
The prosecutors charged Gayus with money laundering despite indications of corruption. The former taxman was acquitted of all charges by Tangerang District Court on March 12.
Zanuri said none of the judges who tried Gayus had been questioned yet, although one of the judges had admitted to having received Rp 50 million (US$5,500) from Gayus.
“We are focusing on those four prosecutors first,” he said.
Gayus also underwent questioning on Monday. He showed up at midday and refused to answer all questions from reporters.
In Monday’s hearing, legislators questioned the seriousness of police in following up a report submitted by former police detective chief Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji over case brokering involving high-ranking police officers.
“The police must speed up its investigations to follow up on Susno’s report of [judicial corruption].
It must be made a priority to help improve Indonesia’s income from tax,” Martin Hutabarat from the Great Indonesian Movement Party (Gerindra)said.
Legislators also questioned the presence of Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman at the meeting. Raja is one of the police generals Susno accused of taking bribes from Gayus.
His statement has drawn the ire of his colleagues in the police, who accused him of committing several ethical violations. The accusation turned into what the media reported as a tug of war between Susno and the police.
Bambang, however, told lawmakers he never thought of Susno as the police’s “enemy”.
“He is still a member of the police and all senior police members still consider Susno an active member,” he said, adding that Susno was therefore bound to the police code of ethics.
Bambang mentioned the incident at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in which police had prevented Susno from leaving for Singapore and had apprehended him because he had no permit to go abroad.
“It was a preventative measure. It was not a matter of permits, but was in the interests of the investigation,” he said.
People’s Conscience Party (Hanura) lawmaker Syarifuddin Suding suspected two Commission III lawmakers had planned to meet Susno in Singapore.
While he refused to name any lawmakers, rumors circulated that he was referring to commission chief Benny Kabur Harman from the Democratic Party and his deputy, Fachri Hamzah, from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).
Benny dismissed the rumor, claiming he was in Jakarta “ being interviewed by TVOne” on the day Susno was apprehended.
