T

he National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) said that some documents seized by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) belonged to the public and the confiscation by the anti-graft body could compromise the police’s work.

A lawyer for Korlantas, Juniver Girsang, said that the KPK had confiscated an excess of documents, some of which were unrelated to KPK’s ongoing investigation into the driving simulator graft scandal at Korlantas.

“Korlantas has sent a letter requesting the KPK to return documents that are unrelated to the simulator scandal. They were all public documents that could influence Korlantas’ public services,” Juniver told reporters on Monday.

Korlantas filed a civil lawsuit against the KPK over the document confiscation in September.

During the raid, the KPK investigators confiscated dozens of boxes containing various documents.

According to Korlantas, the seizure of documents has caused material losses for Korlantas.

However, many have speculated that Korlantas’ efforts are motivated by the possible incriminating content of the documents — information that could prove, or implicate, police generals in other corruption cases.

When the KPK raided the Korlantas headquarters, analysts said that it also targeted graft practices in the issuance of driving licenses and vehicle registration documents, as well as the illegal fees collected from vehicle owners.

Juniver denied the allegations but said that many of the documents could shed some light on some of the graft practices.

Separately, KPK spokesperson Johan Budi said that the KPK would be ready to face the Korlantas civil suit trial. The South Jakarta District Court has set Nov. 1 as the first date for the hearing of the case.

“It is Korlantas’ right to file a lawsuit against the KPK if they believe that there are things that are inappropriate, but of course it is the judge who could decide if we stuck to the law when raiding the Korlantas office,” he said.

He said that there were still options for Korlantas to drop the lawsuit and resolve the problem amicably.

“The judge would certainly ask Korlantas to reconsider its lawsuit during the first hearing. Otherwise we [the Korlantas and the KPK] could also seek an out-of-court settlement,” Johan said.