I

n yet another incident that many fear marks a setback for Indonesian democracy, Judicial Commission chief Suparman Marzuki and his deputy Taufiqurrohman Syahuri will have to undergo a criminal investigation for their public criticism of judge Sarpin Rizaldi for his decision in a pretrial hearing. His ruling effectively ended the Corruption Eradication Commission'€™s (KPK) probe into a graft case involving the now deputy National Police chief Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan in February.

Police investigators have declared both Suparman and Taufiqurrohman suspects in a defamation case filed against them by judge Sarpin.

Indeed as law enforcers the police have a duty to investigate any criminal report filed by justice seekers, but in too many occasions defamation charges have been used and abused as a means to hit back at opponents or simply to blur core issues.

Not only in the New Order Era, but also in today'€™s democracy defamation charges have been turned into a potent weapon to silence critics, thus stifling freedom of expression. Defamation charges have also weakened the national drive against corruption as they have discouraged whistle-blowers from helping law enforcers for fear of criminalization.

The lawsuit filed against the Judicial Commission leaders has dragged the National Police into yet another conflict of interest related to the Budi Gunawan case. Whatever the police'€™s justification for launching the investigation into Suparman and Taufiqurrohman, the public will deem it as a payback for Sarpin'€™s decision to free Budi from the KPK'€™s clutches. Without Sarpin invalidating the KPK'€™s move to name Budi a suspect, the latter'€™s career might have ended and the police force'€™s reputation slumped to its nadir.

Only after the controversial ruling could the police take over the investigation into Budi and, as expected, clear him of graft charges. The police faced widespread public anger when they named then KPK chief Abraham Samad and deputy chief Bambang Widjojanto suspects in separate criminal cases, and now questions are again being asked about their move against the two Judicial Commission leaders. As former Constitutional Court chief Jimly Asshiddiqie puts it, the criminal investigation into Suparman and Taufiqurrohman will further damage the police'€™s credibility.

It would therefore be wise for the police to exercise their discretion and drop the defamation case, considering the Judicial Commission'€™s constitutional mandate to supervise the corps of judges. The commission was established as part of the national consensus to reform the judiciary, one of the branches of power that form the democracy of the country. The fact that Sarpin received a six-month suspension from the bench after the Supreme Court found him guilty of an ethics violation in relation to his controversial decision only underlines that the oversight mechanism works.

The police will be held responsible for the death of free expression and, heaven forbid, democracy in Indonesia if eventually the two commissioners are convicted because of the statements to which Sarpin objected. President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, to whom the police ultimately answer, will also share the blame if he remains silent.