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Tito slams accusations of diversion
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Loyalty: President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo (left), accompanied by National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian (right), enters a hall where he will give security directives to police officials during an event at the Police Higher Education College (PTIK) in Jakarta on Nov. 8. (Antara/Yudhi Mahatma)
T
he National Police have hit back against allegations that their arrest of a number of terror suspects was a ploy to divert the attention of the public from the ongoing blasphemy trial of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama.
National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian said he was “ready to step down” if it was proven that the counterterrorism operation, which nabbed nine alleged Islamic State (IS) movement supporters in Bekasi and Tasikmalaya, West Java, had such an intention.
“I will resign if I was responsible for manufacturing [the case]. If they have evidence that this was staged then they should come forward with evidence [...] What we did was purely the result of a months-long investigation,” Tito told reporters at the National Police headquarters on Friday.
Tito was responding to a statement from National Mandate Party (PAN) lawmaker Eko Hendro “Patrio” Purnomo, a former television comedian, who alleged that the arrest of terror suspects in Tasikmalaya and Bekasi was a PR stunt to divert public attention from Ahok’s ongoing blasphemy trial.
Eko has denied making such a claim, accused the media of taking his statement out of context and demanded that some media outlets withdraw their stories about it.
A police investigator, identified as Sofyan Armawan, has filed a report against Eko for allegedly violating Article 207 of the Criminal Code on insulting the authorities and the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law.
The National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) summoned Eko for questioning on Thursday, but the lawmaker failed to show up.
On Thursday, fellow PAN lawmakers criticized Eko’s summonsing by raising the issue during a House of Representatives plenary session, saying the police’s decision to launch a probe into Eko was arbitrary.
On Friday, Eko showed up to be questioned as a witness in the case.
Tito, a former National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) chief, said it was a mistake for “a lawmaker or any other state official” to disparage the work of the National Police’s counterterrorism squad Densus 88, saying it would demoralize those who had made the greatest efforts to combat terrorism.
“I am serious. [Eko] could face criminal charges or be made to apologize to the public for his comment. [...] If he did not say it, then he should make a public clarification,” Tito said, adding that Eko’s allegation was outrageous.
“Even the best Hollywood director could not conceive of a plot like this. If it was manufactured, why would the suspects have the courage to take on the role of suicide bombers, something that carries the risk of the death penalty?” Tito said.
Since his inauguration in July, Tito has been put under tremendous pressure to deal with three challenges: crime, terrorism and corruption.
Additionally, in recent months Tito has had to deal with rising political tension in the lead-up to the Jakarta gubernatorial election.
In the past two months, Tito has had to marshal the resources of the National Police to deal with massive street protests involving hundreds of thousands of Muslims calling for the prosecution of Ahok. He has also had to ramp up the force’s antiterror efforts, which led to the recent arrest of the nine alleged IS supporters, including a female would-be suicide bomber Dian Yulia Novi in Bekasi, West Java.
Police said Dian and her accomplices had prepared a pressure cooker bomb that was ready to be transported to the State Palace where it would be set off, a claim that has been subject to ridicule on social media.
Many have questioned the validity of the police’s claim that a pressure cooker could be used to house a bomb.
In Riau, local police have charged Makruf Maulana, chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (Kadin) Riau Islands chapter, with violating the ITE Law for creating a meme lampooning the arrests over the alleged pressure cooker bomb plot.
“If a frying pan bomb fails to divert [the public’s] attention, try a thermal bottle [thermos] bomb,” Makruf wrote in a social media post.
Riau Island Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Saptono Erlangga said the charges were “a lesson” for Makruf about the importance of being careful when using social media.
Meanwhile, human rights activist Bonar Tigor Naipospos of the Setara Institute said the police were right to launch a probe into Eko.
“If such a statement was made by a lawmaker, the police have reason to be furious. A lawmaker is obliged to support counterterrorism efforts,” he said.
