Corruption bomb explodes in Indonesia
By Patrick Guntensperger
JAKARTA - Only a few short months since Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono was re-elected with an overwhelming mandate on an anti-corruption
platform, protest marches and chants calling for revolution against his
government have been heard on the streets of the national capital and other
cities.
"Revolution, revolution, revolution to the death!" This rally cry, not heard
since the 1998 fall of former dictator Suharto, is being chanted by
anti-corruption activists and other protesters over Yudhoyono's alleged
involvement in a complex plot to criminally frame two deputy chairmen, Chandra
Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto, of the country's highly successful and widely
respected graft-busting Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
The politically explosive allegations were captured in a wiretapped
conversation involving businessman Anggodo Widjojo, police and prosecutors, in
which they appeared to plot against the KPK. Widjojo mentioned the police
force's top detective, Susno Duadji, and deputy attorney general, Abdul Hakim
Ritonga, as supportive of the plot. The conversation was nationally televised
during Constitutional Court hearings and widely reported in the local media.
Both Duadji and Ritonga resigned their positions without explanation on
Thursday. Under public pressure, Yudhoyono has launched an investigation, led
by a group dubbed Team 8, into the allegations, and he has said that officials
mentioned in the tapes should be suspended until the inquiry is complete. There
are no indications that Yudhoyono intends to temporarily step down over the
mounting scandal.
Anggodo allegedly contacted the Attorney General's Office and senior police
officials to convince them of trumped up allegations against Chandra and Bibit.
Anggodo Widjojo is the brother of fugitive Anggoro Widjojo, who is wanted for
fraud and embezzlement and known to be at large in Singapore. Anggodo is heard
on the tape to be soliciting "help" from Ketut Sudiharsa, deputy head of the
witness protection agency, the LPSK, to protect his brother.
The allegations mark a dramatic turn for Yudhoyono, who was widely perceived as
supportive of the country's much lauded anti-corruption drive. To nobody's
great surprise, given that transcripts had earlier been leaked to the press,
the plot by businessman Anggodo Widjojo to solicit false testimony was now on
the record. Yudhoyono was indeed mentioned in the conversations as supporting
the conspiracy.
Since its establishment in late 2003, the largely autonomous KPK has been at
odds with entrenched forces in the government and bureaucracy. High-ranking
officials in the police, Attorney General's Office, central bank and parliament
have all been targeted for investigation and prosecution by the KPK, which
boasts a 100% conviction rate in the cases it has brought before the special
Corruption Court.
The KPK has come under fire from vested interest groups, including in
parliament, that have tried to reduce or even eliminate the investigative
agency's powers. That has been evident in parliament with the foot-dragging in
debating a new Corruption Court bill, which effectively let the court's legal
mandate expire. Parliament also bid to redefine the composition of the
Corruption Court to dilute the number of ad hoc judges, who, unlike many career
judges, have proven to be free from political influence.
But it's the alleged covert attempts to undermine the KPK that have caused the
greater furor.
The accusation that KPK chairman Antasari Azhar contracted killers to murder a
businessman who was the third corner in a love triangle involving a female golf
caddy has come under new scrutiny amid the allegations political forces had
aligned to undermine the KPK. Antasari is currently imprisoned and awaiting
trial on murder charges.
He implicated and later withdrew accusations of abuse of power and influence
peddling against other KPK members, sparking the police and Attorney General's
Office to launch investigations. KPK deputy chairmen Chandra Hamzah and Bibit
Samad Rianto were initially suspended over the investigations and then detained
on October 28. There was immediate public suspicion that the two graft
fighters, who have subsequently been released, had been framed. That suspicion
was articulated in a vigorous online campaign in favor of the two commissioners
(See Facebook people power ,
Asia Times Online, November 7).
Yudhoyono had been inundated with requests to intervene in the commissioners'
defense. Although the KPK is an independent body, it is directly responsible to
the president. Yudhoyono, however, in a display of his characteristic
reticence, said the legal process must run its course. Protesters have since
taken to the streets demanding action from Yudhoyono, who was until recently
viewed as a dedicated champion of the anti-corruption drive.
Under mounting popular pressure, the police have temporarily released Chandra
and Bibit. Police then detained Anggodo, who had appeared on a television show
angrily defending his actions and denying he was trying to frame the two
commissioners. Later, in another interview at police headquarters, a somewhat
chastened Anggodo apologized to everyone he may have harmed through his
wiretapped conversation, including Yudhoyono and deputy attorney general
Ritonga.
Within 24 hours of his detention, police released Anggodo without laying
charges against him. At first, police continued to stonewall the press while
Anggodo secretly exited police headquarters through a back door, but soon began
to send out mixed messages. Brigadier General Raja Erisman, National Police
Director for Economic Crimes, was quoted as saying, "He is now under our
protection."
A police spokesman, Inspector General Nana Sukarna, said, "We don't have enough
evidence to name him as a suspect in each one of the six allegations. We can't
blame him for his conversation with his friends, for mentioning the president,
or for his threat to kill someone, as nothing materialized." He added, "It is
the people who spread the recordings that should be blamed."
The news drew an immediate reaction from the hastily appointed Team 8
fact-finding group. A team member, Todung Mulia Lubis, a civil-rights lawyer
and chairman of the executive board of Transparency International Indonesia,
accused the police of "obstructing justice" and added, "This cannot be
tolerated." Team 8 chairman Adnan Buyung Nasution threatened to have the entire
team resign as their recommendations had largely been ignored. "What's the
point of all our work?" he asked.
Some believe the debacle represents a golden opportunity for Yudhoyono to act
decisively in cleaning up the police and Attorney General's Office, long seen
among the most corrupt bureaucracies in the country. While much remains murky
surrounding the alleged plot, including Yudhoyono's alleged involvement, one
thing is certain: the president's once clean-hands image is now in doubt.
The new revelations could further erode Yudhoyono's graft-fighting credentials,
and they threaten broadly the once vibrant reform movement he was
democratically re-elected to lead.
Patrick Guntensperger is a Jakarta-based journalist and teacher of
journalism. His blog can be found at http://pagun-view.blogspot.com
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