TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - As a law enforcement agency, the National Police is no stranger to pressure. The commotion over bribes paid to extend the on-arrival visas of a ship's crew at Tual, Maluku is the latest example. The investigation was seen as going too far, such that it prompted a strong protest from Artha Graha Group boss Tomy Winata. Conversely, the police, in this particular case Budi Waseso, believes there was a third-party intervention in the investigation. Budi was the crime investigation unit chief at the National Police at the time.
Police Chief Tito Karnavian is now facing two tests. Firstly, the police must resist the pressure from Tomy to avoid giving the impression that the police are easily influenced by outsiders. Secondly, the police must prove to the public that the investigation into the bribes for visa extensions was carried out professionally.
This clash of interests that has the potential to damage the National Police is still evident despite the fact that the ship crew visa case came to light two years ago. There was even a verdict from the Corruption Court in February this year. Three perpetrators, Menny Setiawan, Lim Chandra Sutiono and Harry Gandhy, were each sentenced to a year in jail and fined Rp50 million after being found guilty of bribery.
Menny Setiawan is an employee of Fujian and Oceanic Fisheries Co., a partner of Maritim Timur Jaya Laut, a company supplying shipping crew members from China. Fishing operations in Tual are paid for by the Artha Graha Group. Meanwhile, Lim and Harry are private individuals involved in the processing of visas. The trial proceeded according to procedure. The accused were proved to have paid bribes totaling around Rp60,000 for each visa extension stamped in some 140 passports held by the crew.
It was the investigation that angered Tomy. In September last year, a police team, acting under the direct orders of Budi Waeso himself, went to Tual to look for the passport holders. This search was seen as excessive and irrelevant. This was a continuation of the investigation in Bandung involving the three suspects. Armed with the confiscated passports, the police went to Tual because the owners of the passports were there.
Gen. Tito Karnavian must clarify matters so there are no misunderstandings. There is an impression that the police easily influenced by others. The overreaction to this case has disappointed Budi Waeso. He has objected to the questioning by the Police Professional and Security Division of the team, which went to Tual. Budi insists that the investigation into Tomy Winata's fishing company was carried out professionally.
On the other hand, the motive for the investigation at Tual needs to be examined. Was it really a counterattack against Tomy because of another matter, namely the Victoria Sekuritas case, which is being handled by the Attorney-General's Office? Victoria owns the right to collect billions of rupiah in debts owed to Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) by Adyaesta Ciptatama, a company that had borrowed the money using more than 1,000 hectares of land in Karawang, West Java, as collateral.
Since the 1998 banking crisis, BTN has been with the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency program. Because Adyaesta was unable to repay its debt, the debt collection right was obtained by Victoria for the very low price of Rp32 billion. Later, Adyaesta said it was prepared to pay Rp266.4 billion, but Victoria insisted on a figure running into trillions of rupiah. Tomy became involved as a middleman, but eventually the two parties came to an agreement.
Matters became complicated because this debt is also the subject of a corruption complaint against Adyaesta, which is accused of selling the debt collection right too cheaply, resulting in a loss to the state. Budi Waeso and senior politicians in the House of Representatives (DPR) are believed to be backing Victoria. It is reported that Adyaesta is also being investigated by the police for alleged falsification of land certificates.
With both the visas on arrival and Victoria cases, there are indications of outside interference. The police chief needs to establish an ethics code commission, with the aim of not only uncovering Budi Waeso's motives, but also determining whether the investigation into his subordinate officers was influenced by external pressure.
This step is important because the police code of ethics explicitly disallows investigations based on the interests of third parties. The principle of professionalism is included in the declared mission of the police force. If this kind of investigation were allowed to take place, every unseemly indication would further undermine public trust in the law enforcement process. (*)
Read the full interview in this week's edition of Tempo English Edition
