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Protection agency, police vie for custody of Susno
The National Police and the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) contested Wednesday to take custody of former National Police chief detective Comr
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he National Police and the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) contested Wednesday to take custody of former National Police chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, who has been detained by police as a graft suspect.
Susno agreed to the terms of the LPSK’s conditions, but the National Police refused to let him go on the pretext that he is not only a witness in a corruption case but also a suspect in another two cases.
A team of LPSK commissioners and Susno’s lawyers met Susno at the detention center at the Police Mobile Brigade headquarters in Kelapa Dua, just south of Jakarta.
“Pak Susno agreed to our terms of conditions [to get protection]. As of today, he is now under our protection,” an LPSK commissioner, Lili Pintauli Siregar, told The Jakarta Post.
The terms of the arrangement, as set by law, stipulate that Susno present all relevant information later in court, comply with the LPSK’s rules in regards to safety and not discuss the case with any party without the agency’s consent.
Susno had earlier testified that he and his family members had received threats over the phone and via text messages. Susno also said that he was being stalked everywhere he went.
Susno began to feel the heat when he uncovered an alleged Rp 24 billion (US$2.57 million) corruption case involving tax official Gayus Tambunan that implicated senior National Police officers, state attorneys, lawyers and businesspeople.
“From tomorrow on, LPSK commissioners will accompany Pak Susno every time he is quizzed as a witness,” she said, adding that Susno’s family members could also be included in the protection if they so requested.
Susno would also be entitled to stay in a safe house provided by the LPSK if police choose to release him.
“We have prepared a safe house for him. Because Pak Susno is also a suspect, the police also have the authority to detain him. We will discuss it with the police some time this week,” she explained.
In response to the LPSK’s insistence to move Susno to a safe house, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said the police would need time to think about it.
“Our detention center in Kelapa Dua is very safe, unless somebody drops a bomb from the sky,” he said.
National Police deputy spokesman Brig. Gen. Zainuri Lubis added that all suspects were supposed to be kept in official detention centers, “not at other places we don’t know”.
One of Susno’s lawyers, Ari Yusuf Amir, demanded the police grant the LPSK’s request to allow Susno to move to a safe house. “It won’t hamper the investigation. It’s only a matter of location,” Ari said.
The LPSK decided Monday that Susno and his family were eligible for protection.
Susno is now behind bars after police charged him with bribery in connection with a fish farming company and a graft case centering on the 2008 West Java gubernatorial election.
Reliable sources said that the police sought to charge Susno in five criminal cases. One of the cases is an alleged bribery case involving high-level officials in Bengkulu province that has also implicated Susno’s lawyer at the time, Johnny Situwanda, who allegedly acted as a middle-man.
