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House to crosscheck testimonies on halted forest fire investigations
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Thick smoke rises above forest fires burning in Riau. (Courtesy of the Riau Land and Forest Fire Post’s air task force/-)
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House of Representatives committee investigating forest fires will crosscheck differing testimonies made by two former Riau Police chiefs — Insp. Gen. Dolly Bambang Hermawan and Brig. Gen. Supriyanto — about who issued letters to terminate investigations (SP3s) into 15 alleged forest burners.
"We will summon [the police officials] on Thursday along with the investigation team, so that we know who holds the real responsibility for the issuance of SP3s for 15 companies," committee member Syarifudin Sudding told journalists on Tuesday.
The plan arose following a Tuesday hearing, in which Dolly, who held office from August 2014 to March 2016, rejected a statement made by Supriyanto that Dolly was responsible for issuing the SP3s to stop investigating 15 companies accused of being responsible for forest fires.
Bambang and Supriyanto would be summoned alongside current Riau Police chief Brig. Gen. Zulkarnain Adinegara to clarify the facts and stop the police officials from placing blame on each other, Sudding said.
Should Supriyanto — who previously claimed to have no idea about the SP3s as they were issued when Dolly served as police chief — be found guilty of providing false testimony to lawmakers, the House may recommend that National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian dismiss him from the force, Sudding said. (bbn)
