Police: Red Book Scandal Case Closed

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - National Police asserted that the alleged case of the destruction of the evidence in the meat import bribery case, or commonly known as the red book scandal, had been closed.

Police spokesman Insp. Gen. M. Iqbal said that the statement was made during the preliminary hearing at Jakarta Metro Police.

“The fact is, no evidence about the destruction of the book was found,” said Iqbal in his office, South Jakarta, Thursday, October 24.

Iqbal reiterated that the preliminary hearing was conducted transparently with the involvement of National Police, Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), and the Attorney General's Office (AGO) held on October 31, 2018.

“During the preliminary hearing, KPK and Ago were present. Three bodies of the KPK joined in the preliminary hearing were the Legal Bureau, Coordination and Supervision Bureau, and Internal Supervisory,” Iqbal added.

The former deputy chief of East Java Police added the three ensured there was no proof of the alleged law violation in the form of the destruction of evidence in the meat import bribery case. Therefore, they agreed to close the case and halt the investigation.

Previously, the IndonesiaLeaks media team urged the police to resume the investigation on the latest findings of evidence in the form of video footage displaying a CCTV recording in the KPK’s room Ruang Kolaborasi.

“The video shows new proof about the destruction of the evidence of the meat import bribery case by entrepreneur Basuki Hariman to former Constitutional Court Justice Patrialis Akbar,” said Gading in a written statement, Tuesday, October 22.

However, Iqbal rejected the recording released by the IndonesiaLeaks. “They deliberately spread [the video] to shape baseless opinion. No proof of the destruction of evidence found in [the video], too,” Iqbal said.

ANDITA RAHMA