Police Team for Novel Baswedan Case: Nothing to be Published Yet

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The police’s joint team specially formed to solve the case of Novel Baswedan said that the investigation was still afoot, and so it could not publish anything yet.

“Nothing to be published yet,” said one of the expert board members, Hendardi, in a phone call Thursday, March 14.

However, Hendardi said that the team would hold a press conference regarding the case development, but he stopped short to detail the date.

“We will establish a press conference, but the time is still being scheduled,” said Hendardi who is the chairman of the rights advocacy group Setara Institute.

Read also: 700 Days of Injustice; Novel Baswean: Government Does Not Care

Earlier, the advocacy team of Novel Baswedan voiced their doubts on the work performance of the police’s joint team. The advocacy team member, Arif Maulana, said that the joint team had not yet exposed the development of the attack case against the senior investigator of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

The director of Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) said that he had sent many letters in which demanding transparency of the police’s team in handling the case. “But there is no result released to the public or legal team,” Arif added.

The police’s joint team was established in January 2019 under the direct order of National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian as recommended by the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM)’s monitoring team for Novel’s case. The monitoring team consisted of 65 members of police officers, KPK, and experts, including Hendardi.

More than 700 days have passed since Novel Baswedan was first attacked with liquid acid. To date, the police have yet revealed the perpetrators and the mastermind behind the terror.

M ROSSENO AJI