T

he National Police on Monday continued its crackdown on dissident voices by filing libel lawsuits with the Jakarta Police against members of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) for announcing that police investigators had abused their power during the arrest of suspended Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) commissioner Bambang Widjojanto.

National Police lawyer Fredrich Yunadi said Monday that the move was the price paid for the commission'€™s refusal to retract its public claim that Bambang'€™s arrest constituted a human rights violation or to issue a public apology.

Fredrich has accused Komnas HAM commissioners, including Nur Kholis and Natalius Pigai, of violating Article 27 of the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law on libel by announcing the results of the commission'€™s investigation into Bambang'€™s arrest.

The police claim the result should have been kept confidential.

Violations of Article 27 of the ITE law carries a maximum penalty of six years in prison.

'€œSuch an act has besmirched the names of the police investigators working on Bambang'€™s case in the media; that is why we have taken the legal move,'€ Fredrich said on Monday.

The lawyer also argued that Article 87 of the Law No. 39/1999 on Komnas HAM required commissioners to maintain the confidentiality of an investigation by not revealing results to the public.

On Jan. 31, Komnas HAM commissioner Nur Kholis said a team sanctioned by the rights body, which included eight Komnas HAM commissioners, had found violations in Bambang'€™s arrest.

Bambang was arrested by National Police just days after the KPK declared former National Police chief candidate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan a bribery suspect for financial misdeeds after finding that in his capacity as the head of the Career Development Bureau at the National Police from 2004 to 2006, he amassed Rp 95 billion (US$7.3 million), allegedly from bribes and gratuities, and many from officers in pursuit of higher positions in the force.

'€œWe have compiled reports and we suspect that violations took place during Bambang Widjojanto'€™s arrest,'€ Nur Kholis said when announcing the result of the Komnas HAM investigation.

Nur Kholis, who also heads the investigation team, said one of the most blatant violations was the decision to handcuff Bambang in front of his children.

Earlier, Bambang'€™s team of lawyers said the arrest was wracked with procedural violations, including the lack of an arrest warrant.

Soon after concluding its investigation, Komnas HAM delivered the findings to the National Police and to President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo.

Separately, Natalius of Komnas HAM said the commission had conducted its investigation into Bambang'€™s arrest in accordance with the Komnas HAM Law.

Natalius also questioned the police'€™s decision to file a libel lawsuit as the commission did not cite any officers by name.

'€œAs far as I know we did not mention any names. One thing for sure is our job is protected by Law No.39/1999 on Komnas HAM. We did not violate a single article in the law when conducting the investigation into the arrest,'€ Natalius said on Monday.

Natalius said Komnas HAM had spoken to acting National Police chief Comr. Gen. Badrodin Haiti about how to resolve the dispute to avoid further clashes between the police and Komnas HAM that could imperil cases currently being jointly investigated.

'€œThere is a lot of work that needs to be done between the police and Komnas HAM and we want to keep the good relationship we have established,'€ Natalius said.

The police'€™s latest move on Komnas HAM came just days after they proceeded with a criminal report filed against Tempo Magazine and its publication of an investigative article on Budi'€™s suspiciously large bank accounts.

Police have also launched a graft investigation against former deputy minister of law and human rights Denny Indrayana, who lambasted police during the standoff between the National Police and the KPK last month.