TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Novel Baswedan hopes the police will unravel the acid attack on him. The Corruption Eradication Commission's (KPK) is at a dismay at the police’s slow investigation.
In an interview with Tempo reporter Gadi Makitan, the first part is available here, Novel said that the National Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian had promised he will solve the case. It has been two months since the attack on April 11 when two men threw acid on his face near a mosque in the area he lives in. Novel is still being treated at the Singapore General Hospital for the injury that damaged his vision.
Read also: Novel Baswedan: The Chief of Police Made Me a Promise
When did the Chief of Police make his promise?
Soon after the attack, I phoned him. Then he came to visit me and promised he would conduct serious investigations to solve the case. I trust him.
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The police had detained Ahmad Lestaluhu, but later released him as he has an alibi backed by relatives that he was watching TV at the time of the attack.
Novel obtained a photo of Lestaluhu from a Densus 88's (Special Detachment 88 Anti-terror) officer about a week after the incident.
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Is the officer certain that Ahmad Lestaluhu is the man who attacked you?
The officer suspected that he did, and then asked for a confirmation.
Are you certain?
This is an easy crime to solve. It didn’t happen in a quiet area where there were no witnesses. There are plenty of witnesses; plenty of evidences. If the police still can't solve this after two months, I feel sorry for them. This means that their quality is very poor.
As an investigator, how long do you think it takes to solve the case?
A week would be too long if you ask me. That's why I don’t just feel sorry to the police, but also to the Indonesian people who have these poor-performing law enforcers. They're our only law enforcement agency, but their quality is bad. It's a shame for us, right?
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The police said their investigation is stuck because the finger prints on the cup were erased by sulfuric acid.
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We heard that there were orders from an officer to erase the finger prints from the cup used to throw the acid at you. Do you know this?
That's one of the information I was told. Seeing how long this investigation is going, I start to think that perhaps that information is true.
The complete interview is available in Tempo magazine's June 12, 2017 issue
