The police are committed to settling the case and bringing it to court, and we ask the public to be patient, presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said Tuesday, adding that the process would be transparent.

“President [Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono] completely trusts that the system works and the police will solve this case in accordance with existing regulations. We have to trust the police.”

Julian dismissed public criticism of the police, who have again come under public scrutiny following the disclosure of Gayus’ illicit outing to Bali, where he was seen watching a tennis match while supposedly in police detention in Depok, West Java.

“The police force is a credible institution. [Gayus’ leaving his cell] was the work of a few bad officers. The police are currently investigating the case,” he said.

The statement came hours before leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) met with police to discuss whether the KPK could take over the Gayus case, a case many critics are calling symbolic of the widespread corruption plaguing the law enforcement institution and the tax office.

The police rebuffed the KPK’s suggestion, saying they would conduct a thorough investigation into graft allegations surrounding Gayus, a former low-ranking tax official who illegally amassed billions of rupiah in his bank accounts and lived a life of luxury.

KPK deputy chairman Chandra M. Hamzah told a press conference after the meeting that it remained possible that the commission would take over the case. “We’ll speak again with the police,” he said, but declined to comment on the President’s stance.

Activists and legal experts criticized the antigraft body — which is widely perceived to have been weakened by the conviction of former chairman Antasari Azhar for murder and the criminal charges levelled by police against two deputies, Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra — for not being more firm in its attempt to take on the graft case.

“According to the law, the KPK can force the National Police to hand over Gayus’ case without requiring anyone’s consent. The KPK needs to grow a pair,” Zainal Arifin Mochtar from Gadjah Mada University’s Center for Anticorruption Studies told The Jakarta Post.

The 2002 KPK Law stipulates that police and prosecutors must hand over all files related to a case the KPK wants to take over within 14 days after it files a formal request to the two institutions.

The commission has taken over several cases from police. It took over the probe into the fictitious procurement of land for an airport in Kutai Kartanegara regency after East Kalimantan Police said they were incapable of handling the case. Last month, the KPK arrested North Sumatra Governor Syamsul Arifin for alleged corruption in a case previously handled by prosecutors.

On Tuesday, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Iskandar Hasan said police had submitted the case files on the nine officers alleged to have been bribed by Gayus to allow him to leave his cell.

“We sent the case files of Gayus and Comr. Iwan Siswanto to prosecutors,” Iskandar said Tuesday.

Iwan is the warden of the Kelapa Dua detention center in Depok, West Java. Iwan told police investigators he received Rp 368 million (US$41,000) from Gayus to allow Gayus to leave his cell.

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