Detective withdrawals may hamper KPK investigation: Police commission

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the National Police must enter into dialogue in response to the police plan to withdraw 20 investigators from the KPK. The withdrawal has made the police the subject of massive criticism, Edi Saputra Hasibuan, a member of the National Police Commission (Kompolnas), said on Sunday.

“The KPK should coordinate with the police if it wants to retain the investigators in the hope that the National Police would be eager to extend the tenures of the detectives,” Edi said in a statement sent to The Jakarta Post.

The revelation of the police’s plan to withdraw the investigators came amid tension between the KPK and the National Police after the former launched an investigation into a high-profile graft centering on the procurement of driving simulators by the National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) in 2011.

KPK detectives originate at the National Police although the 2002 KPK Law allows the antigraft body to recruit its own investigators. KPK investigators work under five-year contracts which can be renewed.

“We must not let this issue hamper investigation into any corruption case. Everything can be settled with good communication,” Edi said.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said only one of the 20 investigators was directly handling the simulator case. He, however, agreed that the sudden and massive withdrawal would undermine KPK’s overall performance.(iwa)