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ational Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti confirmed on Saturday that Judicial Commission (KY) chairman Suparman Marzuki and commissioner Taufiqurrohman Syahuri had been named suspects for the defamation of South Jakarta District Court judge Sarpin Rizaldi.

Sarpin was the judge who ruled in favor of National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan by ordering the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to drop its probe into the one-time National Police chief candidate.

Sarpin filed a police report against Suparman and Taufiqurrohman in March after the two criticized his controversial decision to invalidate then police chief candidate Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan'€™s suspect status in a pretrial petition filed in February. He had been named a suspect for corruption by the KPK.

According to Badrodin, initial police investigations indicate strong evidence that the two commissioners violated the Criminal Code (KUHP).

Meanwhile, National Police detective division chief Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso said that his investigators had more than enough evidence to charge the two KY commissioners.

Budi Waseso said that news reports presented by Sarpin'€™s legal team contained enough evidence to name the pair suspects.

He added that the pair had been named suspects in their capacity as individuals and that the case had nothing to do with their occupations in the judiciary.

'€œThis has nothing to do with the institution. They are still suspects. Don'€™t try to link the legal process to certain institutions,'€ he said.

Police have summoned Suparman and Taufiqurrohman for questioning on Monday.

Shortly after Sarpin made the ruling on Budi Gunawan, the KY recommended that the Supreme Court, which is in charge of judges across the country, issue Sarpin with a six- month suspension for allegedly violating the code of ethics in his handling of the case.

The Supreme Court claimed, however, that as of Thursday, it had yet to receive the recommendation on Sarpin from the KY.

Furthermore, Supreme Court Chief Justice Hatta Ali said that the Supreme Court Supervisory Committee had investigated Sarpin and found no proof that the latter had abused his power.

Separately, Taufiqurrohman denied that his criticism was an attempt to defame Sarpin, insisting his remarks had been a critique of Sarpin'€™s decisions in court, rather than a personal attack.

He also said he would probably skip Monday'€™s interrogation session.

'€œMaybe [I will be able to attend] after the Idul Fitri holiday,'€ he said.

One of Sarpin'€™s lawyers, Dion Pongkar, said that it was right that the police had named the two commissioners suspects, claiming it was clear that they had defamed his client.

'€œIt'€™s obvious that there was a legal violation, right from the very beginning. This is a lesson: If you insist on airing your opinions in public, be careful '€” don'€™t smear someone'€™s good name,'€ he said.