Despite deal, KPK widens cop probe

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(Tribunnews.com/Dany Permana)

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is apparently walking away from an agreement forged on Tuesday to limit its corruption probe at the National Police Traffic Corps to investigation of its former commander.

The KPK might soon name other suspects in the case, which involves flaws in the procurement of driving simulators by the traffic police under Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, who was previously named a suspect in the probe, commission chairman Abraham Samad said on Wednesday.

“The investigation of the case is still underway. There’s a possibility that we will name more suspects in the days to come,” Abraham said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, KPK Deputy Chairman Bambang Widjojanto told reporters that investigators now had absolute control over the evidence placed under lock and key at Traffic Corps headquarters following a prolonged standoff between KPK investigators and detectives from the National Police criminal investigations division (Bareskrim) on Monday night.

The standoff ended when the leaders of the KPK and Bareskrim met with National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo on Tuesday, and agreed that the KPK would only investigate Djoko, while the police would investigate the Traffic Corps.

Bambang said that police detectives would be allowed to use the documents taken into evidence by the KPK, calling it a commonplace practice to share evidence between law enforcement agencies.

Timur, who oversees the traffic police and the criminal investigations division, previously said that his detectives needed the documents for their own investigation.

The police chief added that Bareskrim had named a senior Traffic Corps police officer as a suspect in the case, declining to elaborate, although others said the suspect was the current deputy commander of the traffic police, Brig. Gen. Didik Purnomo.

The case involves a momentous first for the KPK, whose current leaders seem to have hit their stride after more than six months in office.

Djoko, currently governor of the National Police Academy in Semarang, Central Java, is the first active duty police general to be named a suspect by the commission.

He has been charged with abusing his authority to enrich himself and others while causing state losses in the procurement of 700 two-wheel and 556 four-wheel vehicle simulators worth Rp 190 billion (US$20.14 million) in 2011.

Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Denny Indrayana confirmed that the ministry had received letters from the KPK asking the immigration office to impose overseas travel bans on Djoko, Didik and Adj. Sr. Comr. Teddy Rusmawan, the officer in charge of the procurement project.

Contacted separately, criminologist Bambang Widodo Umar said that a joint investigation of the scandal by the KPK and the National Police violated the Corruption Law, which allows the commission to supersede and halt corruption investigations launched by the Attorney General’s Office or the National Police.

“The National Police should eat the humble pie and let the KPK prosecute the case as regulated by the law,” Bambang, a former police officer, said.

House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung said the competition between the KPK and the police would not lead to a repeat of the 2009 so-called gecko vs crocodile standoff between the agencies prompted by a similar turf fight. “The two institutions have launched their own probes,” he said.

Pramono said that there has been effort to interfere with the KPK’s work. “The fact that the evidence was withheld for close to 24 hours shows that the police are not ready to lay down their arms,” he said.

Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo

Career Highlights

Place/Date of Birth: Madiun, East Java/Oct. 7, 1960

Education: 1984: Graduate, Police Academy, Semarang, Central Java

Notable assignments:
Sept. 2002 : Bekasi Police chief
Sept. 2002 – July 2004: North Jakarta Police chief
July 2004 – Sept. 2008: Jakarta Police Traffic Directorate chief
Sept. 2008 – Nov. 2008: National Police Traffic Corps deputy commander
Nov. 2008 – Feb. 2012: National Police Traffic Corps commander
March 2012 – present: Governor, National Police Academy

Achievements:
• First in his academy class to receive a general’s baton.
• Launched the Traffic Management Center (TMC) in 2005.
• Given a Citra decoration for superior service from the President in 2008.

Djoko’s personal wealth was estimated at Rp 5.6 billion as of 2010.

Various sources, Photo: Antara

Sita W. Dewi contributed reporting