TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Police image in tatters as murder scandal widens
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Suspended internal affairs chief Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo arrives on Aug. 4, 2022 at the National Police's Criminal Investigation Department in Jakarta for questioning as a witness in the alleged fatal shooting at his residence on July 8 that led to the death of Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat. (Antara/Aprillio Akbar)
P
ublic faith in the National Police is believed to have hit a historic low, as the cover-up scandal in the murder of Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat allegedly at the hands of Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo widens into allegations of elite factionalism within the force and institutional complicity in the shadowy underworld of illegal gambling.
The police force has been mired in various scandals before, but the latest controversy — in which Ferdy, then the police’s internal affairs chief, allegedly masterminded Yosua’s killing and its cover up with the help of his own men and other police officials — has exposed the culture of violence and manipulation that has long plagued the force.
“This is the worst scandal in the police’s history. Imagine 62 people who were supposed to enforce the law voluntarily breaking the law and jeopardizing their future,” Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) chairman Sugeng Teguh Santoso told The Jakarta Post recently.
The scandal appears to have only grown bigger in recent days.
Elite factionalism
As the police investigate the cover-up conspiracy, questioning at least 83 officers for alleged ethics breaches and obstruction of justice for tampering with the crime scene, public attention has now turned to Ferdy’s role as leader of an elite special task force that analysts say is emblematic of factionalism within the force.
The task force, known as Satgassus Merah Putih, was created by then police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian in 2016. It answered to the police chief and was tasked with conducting criminal investigations into cases deemed as priority by the police leadership such as those related to illegal drugs, money laundering, corruption and cybercrimes.
