Should we laugh or cry? This is the continuing drama at the National Police as police generals pounce on each other.
On Monday, the National Police finally detained one of their own, Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, the former detective chief and, equally important, the former deputy of the transaction analysis center, where all sorts of amazing data on his colleagues apparently first poured into his hands.
It was on the basis of this data that he has named, one by one, fellow police officers and their allies in the tax offfice, in alleged scandals of tax evasion, case brokerage efforts and others; each one leading to revelations of another initial, another official, who have amassed supposedly illegal mounds of wealth, be they junior or senior officers and officials.
Police have charged Susno only on one count so far, that he received bribes in the case of a fish farm company, allegedly in return for halting investigation of fraud implicating the firm.
The public is waiting to see how long the police can keep a straight face, as if they remain our credible National Police dedicated to protect and to serve – while several of their higher echelons have been implicated in the tunes of Susno the songbird.
A police chief is squeezed between a rock and a hard place if he were to take steps to immediately shut Susno up — for the target would only grab another file and sing some more, probably even mentioning his superiors.
Now people shake their heads, mumbling at the increasingly questionable credibility of the police. No one is saying they’re not working hard at chasing and catching our terrorists. But when general after general is implicated in graft, how can the police work to protect and serve while they’re busy guessing their top general’s next move. How can they cover any remaining traces of what one can imagine is much more under the carpet?
In the thick of this plot, who are the good guys? Susno seeks public sympathy with his capacity for headlines, and goes as far as requesting witness protection. The Judicial Mafia Taskforce has said that whistle-blower he may be, there are also limits on who is entitled to witness protection, if you’re suspected to be right in the thick of things.
Susno emerged in the spotlight last year as the owner of the voice repeatedly heard on the nationwide broadcast recordings of Anggodo Widjojo, the businessman seeking the detective chief’s help in return for letting off his brother from a graft investgation.
Since then, Susno the “crocodile”, as he implied himself as, against what he dubbed were the “lizards”, or small time investigators, has bought time, a lot of time, by unraveling others who could potentially go down the drain with him.
He was removed from his post but retains his uniform, which comes in handy whenever he wishes to show clout.
His lawyer says Susno’s arrest yesterday proves he was “trapped”’, but the public must be forgiven for not really knowing who’s trapping who, or whether it really matters.
What matters is that any party and whistle-blower, hero or villain can expose our corrupt officers and officials across state institutions, and replace them with people who may at least think twice in continuing corrupt habits.
