A coalition of civil society organizations — including Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), the Indonesian Center for Law and Policy Studies (PSHK) and the Jakarta Legal Aid Society (LBH Jakarta) — said that several selection committee members were suspected of having conflicts of interest that made them unfit to sit on the committee.

The coalition identified three members in particular: rights advocacy group Setara Institute chairman Hendardi, law professor and former KPK commissioner Indriyanto Seno Adji and Trisakti University money laundering expert Yenti Ganarsih.

“Hendardi has conceded that he is an expert advisor to the National Police chief together with Indriyanto Seno Adji,” YLBHI chairman Asfinawati said in a press conference on Sunday.

She said that “according to digital footprints”, Yenti was also a member of the expert staff in the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) and the head of the Police Education Institute (Lemdikpol).

Both Hendardi and Yenti denied they were in conflict.

Hendardi said he had been an expert advisor to the National Police chief since Gen. (ret) Badrodin Haiti held the position in 2015.

“[The advisors] are not part of the National Police’s structure but act as a sort of think tank for the National Police chief and deputy chief,” he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Hendardi, a longtime human rights activist, also hit back at the coalition for being “cynical” toward the committee since its formation.

“Do they think that my integrity has only been built up during the few years that I’ve been an expert advisor to the National Police chief?” he said. “My integrity has been developed over three decades from when I was a student leader.”

Responding to the coalition’s statement, Yenti said “let them say whatever they want”.

“There is no conflict of interest,” she told the Post, adding that she had never been an expert staff member at the National Police.

“I have only been an instructor in education programs about money laundering at the National Police, the Attorney General’s Office, the tax office and the customs office,” she said.

Indriyanto did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Nelson Simamora of LBH Jakarta said the coalition’s suspicions of conflicts of interest had been triggered by several statements made by committee members.

“For example, Pak Hendardi has said the committee is not ‘a tool to satisfy certain groups’ in response to criticism from civil society groups,” he said at the press conference. “His statements tend to belittle [civil society groups] and show no understanding of our concerns.”

Nelson also cited statements from Yenti saying that KPK leadership candidates did not have to submit wealth reports (LHKPN) unless they were selected for the position, despite a 1999 law requiring all government officials to submit such reports.

ICW researcher Kurnia Ramadhana said the persistence of several problematic names on the 20-candidate list despite their questionable track records further strengthened the coalition’s impression that the committee lacked independence.

“For example, there is one figure on the list who was accused of violating the ethics code during his time at the KPK,” he said. “There is another figure who allegedly intimidated a KPK employee in the past.”

One of the names on the list, South Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Firli, served as KPK deputy for law enforcement from April 2018 until June this year, and was under investigation for an ethics breach last year for allegedly meddling in a graft investigation involving former West Nusa Tenggara governor M. Zainul Majdi, popularly known as Tuan Guru Bajang (TGB).

Another candidate, Bareskrim deputy chief Insp. Gen. Antam Novambar, was accused of intimidating then-KPK law enforcement deputy Endang Tarsa in 2015, with regard to an investigation into then-National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan.

Firli and Antam, who have denied the allegations, and the 18 other remaining candidates are set to undergo a public hearing as well as an interview stage from Tuesday to Thursday, during which the selection committee will whittle the list down to 10 names to submit to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.

Jokowi will then submit the names to the House of Representatives, which will conduct confirmation hearings to select the final five commissioners.

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