Police, prosecutors renew dispute

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Mon, 04/21/2008 10:36 AM  |  National

Lack of coordination between the police and the prosecutors' corps, which has contributed to poor law enforcement in the country, was discussed Friday at the University of Indonesia (UI).

The discussion, organized by the UI Criminology Department, turned into an acrimonious debate between representatives of the National Police and Attorney General's Office. A police officer accused the prosecutors' corps of stalling investigations, while the prosecutors said the police often failed to gather adequate evidence.

"We often feel prosecutors are overplaying us. We have had to see them over and over again because they are never content with the dossiers we submit to them," an investigator at the Jakarta Police told the audience. "They have never considered the operational costs we spend on the tiresome procedure."

Another police officer said in many remote areas, where police offices are located far away from prosecutors' offices, the procedure caused inefficiency.

"Imagine spending hours over several days on a dossier for a chicken theft case. While the chicken only costs Rp 20,000, we have to spend triple that amount just for transportation alone," the officer said. "This makes us reluctant to handle such petty cases, and this could hamper law enforcement."

A prosecutor from the Depok Prosecutors' Office fought back, saying the police were part of the problem as they often failed to build strong cases.

"We never intend to stall police investigations. In fact, many have insufficient evidence, so we ask them to prepare the dossiers better," she said.

Her colleague added evidence was all prosecutors relied on to enforce the law.

"We're the ones who present the evidence in court, so we bear a heavy responsibility. If a suspect is set free, we're the ones criticized," he said.

Head of the Law Division at the National Police Headquarters Insp. Gen. Aryanto Sutadi said the dispute between the two corps was a result of arrogance.

"It's just a matter of the officers' morality. They suspect each other and compete with each other in handling high-profile cases," Aryanto said.

He suggested a clear distinction between the authorities of the police and the prosecutors be formalized in the new Criminal Code, currently being drafted.

Junior Attorney General for General Crimes, P. Djoko Soebagyo, however, said the disputes weren't that common.

"I have experienced solid coordination with the police many times, like when we sought new evidence of the involvement of Pollycarpus in the murder of Munir and when we investigated credit card fraud," Djoko said.

Another speaker, Director General for Human Rights Protection at the Justice and Human Rights Ministry, Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, said disputes between police and prosecutors would only result in legal uncertainty.

She said the problem of "who is under who" was the main reason for the long-standing conflict.

"In fact, according to the Criminal Code, both of them are equal and share the goal of upholding the law," Harkristuti said. (dia)

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