TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Police defend arrest of KPK commissioner

National Police detective division chief Insp

Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, January 31, 2015

Share This Article

Change Size

Police defend arrest  of KPK commissioner

N

ational Police detective division chief Insp. Gen. Budi Waseso defended on Friday his decision to arrest Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Bambang Widjojanto, saying that the move was backed by solid evidence and was not motivated by a personal vendetta.

Budi said that the arrest of Bambang had nothing to do with the anti graft body'€™s decision to name his colleague Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan a suspect.

Budi made the statement after being questioned by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) for alleged human rights abuse in the arrest of Bambang late last week.

'€œThere is no conflict between the KPK and the police force. After we received the report [on Bambang], we were able to gather enough evidence so that we could name him a suspect after only four days,'€ he said.

Last week, the National Police'€™s detective division named Bambang a suspect for allegedly ordering a witness to commit perjury at the Constitutional Court in 2010 in a case related to a regional election dispute in West Kotawaringin, Central
Kalimantan.

Bambang claimed that he had been handcuffed and was not presented an arrest warrant.

Many have speculated that Bambang'€™s arrest was in direct response to the KPK'€™s decision to name Budi, the National Police chief nominee, a suspect in a graft case.

Due to the KPK'€™s move, Budi'€™s inauguration has been postponed until the KPK'€™s investigation is complete.

Budi said that he had submitted the arrest warrant and a video of the arrest to the Komnas HAM commissioners to review.

'€œAccording to the law, the investigators have the right to arrest and handcuff a suspect if they deem it necessary,'€ he said.

Budi also said the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) gave the same treatment to all suspects during an arrest regardless of their position as government officials, which explained why National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti was briefed on the arrest of the KPK commissioners.

Komnas HAM questioned Budi in its probe to see if the police had abused their authority in Bambang'€™s arrest.

Komnas HAM commissioner Nur Kholis said that the commission would submit its report to President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo next week.

Nur said a team in the commission would review the materials Budi had submitted and added that it might request further documents.

Bambang is not the only KPK commissioner facing legal problems as the remaining three commissioners had police reports filed against them last week.

NGO KPK Watch Indonesia filed a report last Thursday against KPK chairman Abraham Samad after Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician deputy secretary-general Hasto Kristiyanto accused Abraham of abusing his power in his bid to become vice president.

On Friday, the police questioned a man who identified himself as Supriansyah, who claimed to own the apartment in which Abraham allegedly met the PDI-P politicians.

'€œAS and I were old friends back in Makassar and he asked me if it was possible for him to meet some of his friends at my apartment,'€ he said, referring to Abraham by his initials.

Supriansyah said that Abraham met with Hasto and Tjahjo Kumolo, who is currently Home Minister, twice at the apartment.

'€œThe meetings were in March or April [last year] and lasted only between 30 to 40 minutes,'€ he said.

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.