T

he Police and the Attorney General'€™s Office (AGO) have demonstrated once again their arrogance and their addiction to abusing the power they have against anyone or any target. The two institutions, including their regional offices, are widely perceived as the country'€™s most corrupt institutions.

This time their target is one of the country'€™s most popular local leaders, former Surabaya mayor Tri '€œRisma'€ Rismaharini. It was a ridiculous act. Risma is expected to easily win her second term in the December regional election.

A small news portal shocked Surabayans and millions of people across the country on Friday when it reported that the police had declared Risma a suspect in the renovation project of the famous Turi Market. A spokesman for the East Java Prosecutors Office said the police had handed over the dossier in September. National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti, however, denied the report. He clearly realized that the police in East Java had created unnecessary problems for him.

'€œThere was not sufficient evidence, therefore the police closed the case,'€ the police chief said on Friday.

PT Gala Bumi Perkasa, the renovation contractor reported the then city mayor for using its land to build temporary shelters for traders who were evicted from the market. Risma insisted as the city leader she had to accommodate to the needs of her people. The traders were not able to buy the kiosks from the developer because prices were too expensive.

'€œAs their leader I have the obligation to protect the residents of Surabaya,'€ Risma said on Friday. If the police and the prosecutor'€™s office can easily make such a popular and highly respected leader a suspect in a questionable case, we can easily imagine how they treat ordinary people or people who do not have political connections or money.

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The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) questioned media mogul and founder of the NasDem Party Surya Paloh as a witness in a bribery scandal. The antigraft agency detained party secretary-general Patrice Rio Capella on Friday.

Rio was accused of receiving Rp 200 million (US$14,700) from Evi Susanti, the wife of suspended North Sumatra governor Gatot Pujo Nugroho. The KPK has detained Evi, Gatot and their lawyer OC Kaligis and judges from the Medan Administrative Court (PTUN).

'€œI have told the KPK everything that I know [about the case],'€ Surya said after his questioning. The powerful politician openly acknowledged that he received Gatot in his office, but he insisted that he knew nothing about the bribery.

The suspended governor pointed the finger at Attorney General M. Prasetyo, also a NasDem executive, when he testified as a witness at the Jakarta Corruption Court on Thursday.

Prasetyo strongly denied the allegation. '€œI can assure you that nobody has ever approached me to safeguard the social aid graft case. Nobody came to me because they know very well that I have closed my doors to such practices,'€ he said.

On Tuesday, the KPK also detained legislator Dewi Yasin Limpo, after one of her staff members was caught red-handed accepting S$177,700 ($127,000) from businessman Setiadi Jusuf. The Hanura Party politician allegedly received the bribe after she convinced Setiadi that his company would get a micro-hydro power plant contract in Papua.

'€œI will prove that I am innocent. I never accepted the money. In fact I never saw the money myself,'€ said the sister of South Sulawesi governor Syahrul Yasin Limpo.

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President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo flew to Washington for a working visit on Saturday. He is scheduled to visit US President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday. He will meet top American businesspeople including the leaders of Microsoft, Facebook, Apple and Google.

Jokowi'€™s entourage includes First Lady Iriana Widodo and Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi. Other delegation members include founder and CEO of motorcycle taxi application Go-Jek, Nadiem Makarim, Tokopedia CEO William Tanuwijaya, Kaukus founder Andrew Darwis and Traveloka CEO and founder Ferry Unardi.

Nadiem said he was ready to help the President in his mission to attract more investment to Indonesia. '€œThis is in the state'€™s interest. I will meet with people in Washington, DC, and Silicon Valley to explain about startups in Indonesia,'€ said the Harvard University graduate.

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In the meantime, reports on the deadly haze were in the headlines of nearly all regional media outlets for the whole week. Residents of Central Kalimantan, Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra and West Sumatra were angry with the central government because they said the government had paid little attention to the impact of the forest and peatland fires, including its impacts on health, education and transportation.

The President ordered an immediate evacuation of haze victims especially children, women and people vulnerable to natural and man-made disasters. He ordered the Navy and the Transportation Ministry to deploy ships to transport people out of places covered by haze.

'€œWe will provide the ships as temporary shelters, particularly for children and toddlers until the situation improves,'€ Navy spokesman Comr. M. Zainuddin said on Friday.

In Jakarta, people will have to wait until early December for the rainy season. According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), all parts of Greater Jakarta will have to endure the prolonged drought for more than one month longer.

'€” Kornelius Purba