Public calls mounted yesterday for Indonesia’s president to defend the top corruption-fighting body in what is seen as a major test of his commitment to democratic reforms as he begins a second term in office.
Anti-graft campaigners say bogus charges were filed by police in the arrests of two deputies at the Corruption Eradication Commission last week to undercut its powers. The agency’s head was suspended months ago and put on trial for murder.
The case has fueled opposition to the police and poses a serious challenge for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SYB).
“This is the time for SBY to prove his word,” said Rezki Wibowo, deputy executive director of the local branch of Transparency International, an anti-graft watchdog.
This is a “systematic attempt to undermine the fight against corruption,” he said.
Yudhoyono formed a fact-finding team with the limited mandate of advising the government yesterday. Similar missions have failed in the past, largely because they cannot independently prosecute suspects.
Newspaper editorials yesterday demanded the resignations of key members of the police force and Attorney General’s office, whose telephone conversations were wiretapped and broadcast on national TV and who allegedly invented charges against the commissioners.
In a sign of public anger, more than 350,000 people joined a Facebook page in support of deputies Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Riyanto. Thousands more were signing up every hour and plans were under way for large demonstrations.
The deputies face charges of abuse of power for improperly issuing a travel ban against a corruption suspect, but deny the allegations.
Deputy intelligence chief Major General Dikdik Mulyana said the pair were also detained for hampering investigations by talking to the media.
In an effort to soothe the swelling outrage, a member of the Cabinet met with university heads and anti-corruption groups yesterday to address demands for an independent inquiry into the matter.
The case has exposed a bitter rivalry between the police and Attorney General’s office and the independent anti-corruption agency, known by its Indonesian acronym KPK. The KPK has the authority to investigate corruption at all law enforcement bodies and has made powerful enemies.
The leaked conversations prove that top members of the police and Attorney General’s office “engineered” fake accusations against the commissioners, the Koran Tempo newspaper wrote in an editorial yesterday.
The paper said the officials — chief of police investigations, Susno Duadji, and Deputy Attorney Generals Wisnu Subroto and Abdullah Hakim Ritonga — should be dismissed.
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