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Police step up antigraft fight with ex-KPK investigators
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In the spotlight: Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan (third from left) and other KPK employees who failed a civic knowledge test speak to the media after a hearing with the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on June 8. (Antara/Aditya Pradana Putra)
T
he National Police will establish a special antigraft squad after hiring 44 former Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) employees as officials at the police force.
Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo inaugurated last week the 44 individuals as civil servants at the police force, expecting them to help with the police's antigraft campaign given their experience in the KPK.
They were part of a total of 56 KPK employees who were dismissed in September after failing the controversial civic knowledge test, which was organized by the anticorruption agency between March and April under the pretext of nationalism.
“Thank you for joining us. We will help the government build an anticorruption atmosphere, culture and ecosystem. That way we can help safeguard the state budget, help improve the country's investment climate and help support policies for economic recovery,” Listyo said.
The new recruits include KPK top investigator Novel Baswedan, who was at the heart of KPK standoffs with the police in 2012 and 2015. He was a police investigator before he was seconded to the KPK.
In a show of revenge, the police in 2012 opened an assault case, dating back to 2004, against Novel, after he led an investigation into then-National Police Traffic Corps chief Djoko Susilo in a graft case. Then-president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asked the police to drop the investigation into Novel's case to prevent a worsening standoff between the KPK and the police. However, the police reopened the case when the two law enforcement agencies engaged in another standoff in January 2015 following the KPK's decision to name then-police deputy chief Budi Gunawan a bribery suspect. Budi is now head of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN), which reportedly was among the intelligence-related bodies that helped formulate the controversial KPK employment test.
Read also: Novel freed after police, KPK strike deal
