TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Attacks against Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders and investigators and their supporters are no longer confined to criminalization. In addition to being indicted, they are now in danger of being victims of character assassination.
The definition of criminalization according to the Indonesian-language dictionary, is a process that is not regarded as criminal intent initially, but is later classified as a crime. But what happened to Novel Baswedan, a KPK investigator, for example, is not merely a case of 'making a mountain out of a molehill' but instead, 'making something out of nothing'.
Novel's case was first launched by the police in 2012, over an incident that happened eight years before that. He was charged with assaulting a suspect arrested for stealing bird's nests (an exotic, highly-priced delicacy) when he headed the crime investigation section of the Bengkulu Police headquarters. Novel's case reemerged when he investigated the corruption of the driving license simulators, involving Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, the former chief of the police Traffic Division.
Witnesses and evidence in the Novel case were fabricated so that he would be found guilty. Police were sent to the crime scene to reenact the alleged incident. Letters requesting Novel's investigation by the lawyer of the alleged victim was made at the instruction of the regional police. One of the convicted thieves admitted to having been persuaded to reopen the case in exchange for a lighter sentence.
The entire incident was eventually swept under the rug during the administration of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. But it resurfaced when the KPK-Police conflict broke again, following the indictment of Police Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan for bribery. Novel and suspended KPK commissioners Bambang Widjojanto and Abraham Samad were indicted. Both Bambang and Abraham were charged with providing false testimony and documents during previous trials.
The attacks were not just launched against KPK leaders and investigators, but also against supporters and defenders of the anti-graft commission. Denny Indrayana, a law professor at Gadjah Mada University and former justice and human rights deputy minister, was charged with corruption over the online payment system of the immigration office. Yunus Husein, chairman of the anti-money laundering PPATK, was also reported to the police because he allegedly leaked state secrets. Two lecturers of Andalas University in Padang were also reported for insulting Sarpin Rizaldi, the judge who absolved Budi Gunawan of his KPK indictment in the pretrial hearing.
This terror campaign seems to be aimed at discouraging the public about negative views on the police. Terror works on the terrified. The terror campaigners want to convey one message: supporting the KPK-albeit only by making statements-will have fatal consequences. Past sins will be sought, unearthed or fabricated.
Clearly, such acts of terror cannot be tolerated, they must be fought back. The acting KPK leaders appointed by President Joko Widodo must be prepared to spread this fighting spirit. Signs that Taufiequrachman Ruki, the current KPK chairman, plans to 'trade' the case involving the KPK with that of Budi Gunawan to the prosecutors and the police is truly lamentable.
The KPK must never surrender. They have brought Budi Gunawan's pretrial verdict to be judicially reviewed. Even if the attempt fails, the KPK still has the right to continue with the corruption case. One way would be to redefine the charges. In other words, the KPK can still indict Budi Gunawan without transferring it to other institutions. The KPK must be aware that the people's hope lies with it, that support for this anti-graft commission will not cease.
Now is the time for President Jokowi to intervene. To berate his subordinates is not the same as legal interference. The president should be reminded of his own slogan, 'work, work and work' which he held high, not just in terms of building infrastructure but also in ensuring that citizens would always be free of fear. The president must order Deputy Police Chief Badrodin Haiti, who was recently nominated as the new police chief, to take action. It would be timely and appropriate for the police chief to suspend Budi Waseso, head of the Crime Investigation Division, for causing so many problems.
But it would be inappropriate for the president to use the attempt to destroy the KPK as a political bartering tool. Jokowi must side with the people. Accepting offers of support so long as the Budi Gunawan case is dropped would be a betrayal to the people. By resuming the case and ordering a stop to the ongoing terror campaign by Budi Gunawan's followers, the president will appear stronger when he faces both his friends and his foes. (*)
Read the full story in this week's edition of Tempo English Magazine
