Antigraft activists have criticized the Papua Police for halting an investigation into an a suspect alleged to have embezzled money from the province's special autonomy fund.
Director of the Institute of Civil Strengthening (ICS), Budy Setyanto, said the Papua Police had acted unprofessionally in their investigation into Ahmad Hatari.
Hatari, who is head of the Papua provincial administration's financial management body, had been named a suspect for his alleged involvement in creating a fictitious project that drew Rp 1.9 billion from the special fund, which is a central pillar of Papua's autonomy.
"Why name someone a suspect without the strong evidence? This is not professional," Budy told The Jakarta Post.
He said the public would find out the police had dropped the case for non-legal reasons.
The public, he said, would assume the move had been influenced by politics or pressure from outside of the police force.
"This decision leaves the impression that the law enforcer is being discriminative. This decision will confuse the public. They may find the police have acted unprofessionally," he said.
Papua Corruption Watch leader Rifai Darus said Hatari's case was "a joke" cooked up by the Papua Police.
"What else can we call this? A joke, definitely. A suspect has been named and then freed. I hope the decision to stop the investigation was made purely based on legal considerations, not other factors," Rifai said.
Papua Police chief Insp. Gen Bekto Suprapto said on Thursday that there was no evidence Hatari had been involved in the fictitious project.
The decision, he said, was made after listening to testimonies from three expert witnesses from the Home Ministry, the Supreme Audit Agency and the State Development Comptroller.
"The three witnesses from three different offices said Hatari was not guilty, and therefore his investigation would be stopped," Bekto said.
The Papua Police had earlier named Hatari a suspect in a fictitious project worth Rp 1.9 billion that was said to fund the construction of the South Sorong highway in West Papua, which was budgeted in the 2007 special autonomy fund.
Hatari was allegedly responsible for approving the payment for the project. He approved the project based on a letter from the South Sorong regent at time, and said the project was 100 percent complete.
It was only after Hatari was named a suspect that it was revealed the regent's letter had been forged.
"The investigators asked the three expert witnesses whether it was a mistake for Hatari to pay for the fictitious project based on a fake letter from the regent. All three said no. This is the grounds for the police to stop the investigation," he said.
He said the police would face the consequences of freeing Hatari.
"If Hatari wants to take legal action against us for naming him a suspect, or sue us, we will be ready," Bekto said.
Charges against five suspects in the case remain, and the police are still hunting two more suspects - an official in the financial and asset management body and an owner of a company involved in the fictitious project.
Hatari's attorney, Piet Ell, said that he appreciated the police's decision to drop the case against his client.
"From the beginning, I knew my client had never been involved," he told The Jakarta Post.
Piet said he would speak with his client about the possibility of pressing charges against the police.
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