Budi Waseso: If I am cornered, I will reveal everything

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - No matter where he is posted, Comr. Gen. Budi Waseso always seems to be in the news, as he is doing in his current position as head of the National Narcotics Board (BNN). Barely four months on the job, his statement on drug offenders has led to contentious and prolonged public polemic. He floated the idea of a special prison for those convicted of drug dealing and drug use to be located on an island surrounded by crocodile-infested waters. "I'm serious. This is not a joke," he said.

The public is unlikely to forget other controversial decisions he took during his previous stint as chief of the crime investigation unit of the National Police. One example is when he charged Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) leaders Abraham Samad and Bambang Widjojanto for document fraud and perjury, respectively. He also indicted KPK investigator Novel Baswedan for a case that had happened years ago.

Another of his controversial acts was to charge Judicial Commission members Taufiqurrahman Syahuri and Suparman Marzuki with insulting Judge Sarpin Rizaldi. Sarpin was the presiding judge at a district court that absolved the National Police chief nominee, Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, in a highly contested 'pre-trial' ruling after the KPK had charged Gunawan with corruption. Another questionable act by Budi Waseso was his arrest of anti-corruption activists Denny Indrayana, Adnan Topan Husodo and Emerson Yuntho. He even carried on a public debate with the leader of major Islamic organization Muhammadiyah, Syafii Maarif.

People suspect that these controversial acts of Budi Waseso originated from his close relationship with his fellow police general, current Deputy Police Chief Budi Gunawan, who was charged by the KPK for profiting from his position as chief of career and promotions of Police personnel from 2003 to 2006. But Waseso refutes claims that all his actions were aimed at defending Budi Gunawan. "I was just working on old and neglected cases," Waseso maintained.

On Thursday last week, Waseso clarified his position on a number of issues to Tempo reporters Tulus Wijanarko, Tito Sianipar, Angga Wijaya, Raymundus Rikang and Husein Abri at his office in East Jakarta. It was clear that despite his new job, Waseso had not really changed. He was still speaking directly and very openly. Excerpts: 

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Did you get any special instructions from President Joko Widodo when you were appointed head of BNN?

He told me to do my work and my responsibilities well. The President said that drugs were a serious problem that had to be eradicated.

Do you feel you were sidelined from your Police job because of all the negative attention on you? 

No, that's not how I feel about it. I was reported to be the cause of disruption, but I didn't do anything. It's the journalists who described me that way. People either like or hate law enforcers. Many people don't appreciate law enforcement. So, I can understand people bullying or cursing me. I figured that's a professional risk I must bear.

In my view, change is normal and happens often. What's important is that I do nothing wrong. They say I criminalized AS (former KPK leader Abraham Samad), WB (another KPK leader Bambang Widjojanto), Denny Indrayana (deputy minister for justice and human rights at the time) and Novel Baswedan (KPK investigator). Did I criminalize them? No, because they are all on P-21 (proven to have committed a violation) status. Which means the case is valid and the prosecutor's office took the cases. Criminalization means concocting things up. I didn't do that.

(According to Tempo's notes, the only completed files are on cases involving Abraham Samad and Novel Baswedan. The Bambang Widjojanto dan Denny Indrayana cases have not been classified as having P-21 status.)

It was described as criminalization because at that time, Abraham, Bambang and Novel were investigating the case involving Deputy Police Chief Budi Gunawan. While you investigated cases that had long been filed away.

That's because people wanted both institutions (KPK and the Police) to clash, including you people at Tempo. But never mind, I'm not affected by it. When I led the crime investigation unit, I realized that 67 percent of the police's negative image came from how we investigated cases. At that time, I handled investigations, so I felt I needed to restore (that negative image). When I made an assessment of the situation, I realized I had a lot to do. More than 1,000 cases had been neglected. So, I handled not just the AS, BW and Novel cases but others, too. Those others never made the news because they had nothing to do with the (Budi Gunawan) case. This places KPK on a collision course with the Police, as if I had been defending Budi Gunawan. Not at all! I was just enforcing the law. That's what I told the President.

One indication of their criminalization, like in the Novel case, the person who reported him was a fellow member of the police force. 

Look, one of the victim's family was also a policeman. The person who reported it was still the victim's family. There's a witness testimony and evidence, too. Why would I be making them up? All Police involvement in the case was investigated. But some people wanted to cover up the Novel case and pay him off. Then the charges reappeared. Law enforcers cannot play favorites. Novel need not be afraid if he is innocent. If this was a criminalization case, he should just face it, the court will make a judgement. Yet, in the pre-trial hearing, he lost.

(Tempo's note: The person who reported Novel Baswedan was Brig. Yogi Haryanto, who at the time of the shooting incident was only 18 years old. Novel, who was at that time chief of the Bengkulu Police precinct, is charged with shooting a suspected thief.)

Are you still monitoring the Novel case?

Not really, because I'm in another job. It became the responsibility of the new investigation chief. I've done my job in finding the evidence.

But you did make a point of visiting your previous unit and the Attorney-General's Office (AGO) to ask that the Novel case be resumed.

Who said so? Why would I do that? I never went to the AGO. You can check. All this is because of a negative point of view and someone spreading rumors. But I don't care. The people will judge for themselves.

Many people see you in the same camp as Budi Gunawan. Is this true?

I was once a subordinate of Budi Gunawan. When I was at Propam (Professionalism and Security), Pak Budi Gunawan was the division chief. It was the first time I worked for him. It was during the Susno Duadji case that the fat bank accounts issue first emerged. I was one of many handling the case. At that time, the chief investigation unit, Ito Sumardi, submitted a letter to the PPATK (Financial Transactions Analysis and Reporting Center) on the results of our investigation. (*)

Read the full interview in this week’s edition of Tempo English Magazine