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Police play down NGO findings on assault case
Police have denied allegations by NGOs that they were aware of a possible attack on Tama S
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olice have denied allegations by NGOs that they were aware of a possible attack on Tama S. Langkun, an antigraft activist who was attacked by unknown assailants on July 8.
An independent fact-finding team led by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) released temporary investigation results indicating that an unnamed police officer had offered to protect Tama on July 7, a day before the incident.
The findings suggest that the officer worked for the Jakarta Police, and that his "offer" to Tama, an investigator with Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), was a strong indication that police supposedly knew Tama was a potential target of a violent attack.
Jakarta Police spokesperson Boy Rafli Amar said Thursday that citizens, including Tama, who felt that they were in danger, should report any suspicious security threats to the police, so that they could be protected from any possible attack. "It's part of the police's duties," he said.
He also said that police were unsure if the unnamed officer worked for the Jakarta Police, adding that they were now trying to trace whether he actually existed.
The police have not disclosed the result of their investigation into Tama's case, saying that it was highly confidential.
"We will disclose it when we have named a suspect," he said.
NGOs claim the purpose of the unnamed officer's visit to ICW offices on July 7 was to discuss Tama's ongoing probe into the suspiciously large bank accounts held by several senior police officials, and to develop "good relations" with the ICW.
ICW activist Agus Sunaryanto, who is also a coordinator in ICW's investigative division, said the unnamed officer came to see Tama to offer protection from a possible attack.
He added the officer even came to visit Tama hours after the assault, when he was still badly injured and being treated at Asri Hospital in South Jakarta.
"Tama requested a friend from ICW call the officer when he was still in hospital. He wanted to let the officer know he was attacked," he said, adding that ICW were disappointed at the slow process of the police investigation into the case.
Agus said Tama and other ICW activists sensed that they had been followed by suspicious individuals since July 5, when two motorcycles tailed Tama and his friend Ade to Kalibata mall in South Jakarta.
"We didn't report such suspicious activities because we never expected that our activists would be violently assaulted. This incident is the first of its kind in ICW history," he said.
Kontras monitoring and investigation official Syamsul Alam Agus said the fact-finding team had spoken to the unnamed officer, who confirmed he met with Tama to offer protection.
Tama was attacked on July 8 on Jl. Duren Tiga, South Jakarta, just two days after unknown assailants lobbed Molotov cocktails at the offices of Tempo newsmagazine in South Jakarta.
He was heading home after watching a World Cup match in Kemang, South Jakarta. (tsy)
