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Delicate job awaits new chief detective
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The National Police's cybercrime unit presents suspects accused of involvement in the Muslim Cyber Army on Feb. 28, 2018. The six belong to a WhatsApp group called Family Muslim Cyber Army, which is accused of hate speech. (Antara/Reno Esnir)
T
he National Police have named Comr. Gen. Agus Andrianto the new head of the Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), a strategic position that puts Agus in charge of leading probes into cases from corruption to cybercrime and online defamation that fall under the notorious cyberlaw.
Prior to his appointment as chief detective, Agus led the police’s Security Management Agency (Baharkam), but he was better known for his former position as North Sumatra Police chief.
Agus was also one of five three-star commissioner generals recommended to the President by the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) as frontrunners for the National Police chief position last month, though it was Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo who was handpicked by the President for the police’s top job.
Agus had been recommended by Listyo to succeed him as Bareskrim head, according to a telegram Listyo issued on Feb. 18.
Graduating from the Police Academy in 1989, Agus spent his career in numerous positions, including as division head of the Jakarta Police Special Crimes Investigation Department (Reskrimsus) in 2006.
Agus is also known for handling the high-profile blasphemy case that implicated former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a close ally of Jokowi, in 2016, when he served as Bareskrim general crimes director. The case was seen as a significant factor in Basuki's defeat in the bitterly contested Jakarta gubernatorial election of 2017.
Agus was transferred to the North Sumatra Police to serve as deputy chief shortly after the court handed down its verdict in the case, and in the following year, he rose to the chief position.
