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ntigraft activists have criticized the National Police for failing to help Attorney General Office’s (AGO) prosecutors during a recent attempt to arrest graft convict Theddy Tengko, who has been on the run for the last couple of months.

“It seems like the police have bowed to the demands of Theddy’s supporters and lawyers,” activist Donal Fariz of the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said in Jakarta on Friday.

Theddy, the former regent of the Aru Islands in Maluku, was sentenced by the Supreme Court in April to four years in prison after he was found guilty of embezzling Rp 42.5 billion (US$4.42 million) from the regional budget.

Theddy tried to evade justice by running away.

He was caught by AGO detectives on Wednesday afternoon at the Menteng 1 Hotel on Jl. RP Soeroso in Central Jakarta. He was supposed to be transported to Ambon, Maluku on a midnight flight from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to serve his jail term at a penitentiary there.

However, upon arriving at the airport, a mob of around 50 people confronted dozens of prosecutors and the airport police guarding Theddy. They demanded that the convict be released.

The police then brokered a meeting between Theddy, his lawyers and the prosecutors. The AGO finally agreed to hand the convict to his supporters and his lawyers.

“The police are not mediators. They work to make sure that law is enacted in this country. The mob has obviously violated these laws. Therefore, the police have to take stern action against them, instead of comprising with them,” Donal said.

One of Theddy’s lawyers, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, claimed that he had secured a permit from the National Police detectives chief Comr. Gen. Sutarman to bring Theddy home with him.

Yusril claimed that the arrest of his client was illegal because it was not equipped with a legal arrest warrant.

Besides, he argued that the arrest was illegal because the Supreme Court’s ruling had been overturned by a lower ruling by the Ambon District Court in September. The lower court stated that the higher court’s ruling was non-executable.

However, the Supreme Court in October declared that the Ambon Court’s September ruling had no legal jurisdiction.

Yusril did not take the October ruling into consideration, saying that he would always stick to the Ambon District Court’s ruling.

“Yusril’s arguments cannot be validated. It does not make sense that a district court ruling can abort the highest court’s ruling,” Donal said, adding that the AGO did not need an arrest warrant for Theddy because he was already a convict.

“The prosecutors merely did their job in executing the Supreme Court’s ruling.”

Another ICW activist, Adnan Topan Husono, lamented the escape of Theddy because it damaged the image of both the National Police and the AGO.

Meanwhile, National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said that officers could not take action against the mob.

“It needs a clear legal framework to take affirmative actions against anybody,” Boy said.

According to Boy, the escape of Theddy was probably caused by a lack of coordination between his office and the AGO. “If they [the AGO] coordinated with us, the dispute would not occur,” he said.

Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) chairman Neta S. Pane lamented the lack of coordination.

“Now, the AGO and the National Police have to work together to arrest Theddy. Let’s hope that both of the institutions learn something from this dispute,” he said. (riz)