Harun Case Investigator Dismissed, ICW: Firli's Authoritarian Era
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6 February 2020 09:25 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) accused the Chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Firli Bahuri as being authoritarian in leading the KPK, as apparent in the polemic regarding the dismissal of investigator, Commissioner Rossa Purbo Bekti.
“He’s really showing that his era is the era of authoritarianism and this has never been seen since the KPK was established," Kurnia said when contacted on Wednesday, February 5, 2020.
According to Kurnia, Firli did not understand the values that had existed in the KPK. The one-sided dismissal of Rossa, he said, has damaged the KPK's human resource system, staunchly grounded on the values of objectivity and transparency.
As Rossa's tenure at the KPK should only be completed in September 2020, Kurnia was surprised how someone who succeeded in uncovering the bribery scandal in the intermittent turnover of House of Representatives (DPR) members in the General Election Commission (KPU) has actually been removed.
Rossa is a police investigator stationed at the KPK and is part of a team that conducts the sting operation against KPU Commissioner Wahyu Setiawan, which eventually led to the Harun Masiku case. The KPK initially mentioned that Rossa was withdrawn to the police force as there was a need for him. On the other hand, the police stated that they did not withdraw Rossa. However, their stance was soon revised as the police decided to withdraw Rossa after the issue became a polemic.
Chief of the KPK Firli Bahuri said that Rossa has been dismissed and returned back to the police force. "In fact, the returning of employed police investigators with occupational status of civil servants, is normal," he said in a written statement on Tuesday, February 4, 2020.
According to the former South Sumatra Police Chief, Rossa was returned to the police force on January 22, 2020, as according to the decision of the KPK leadership. The letter of dismissal, he said, was signed by the KPK Secretary General and the Chief of the Human Resources. "The KPK leadership has not canceled the decision to return the parties concerned (Rossa)," he said.
According to Firli Bahuri, Rossa was dismissed as a KPK investigator along with Commissioner Indra, a commissioner investigator also hailing from the police force. Both were officially dismissed from 1 February 2020, as according to the KPK’s decision letter. Both, he said, were returned to the National Police Headquarters since January 24, 2020.
M ROSSENO AJI | DIO SUHENDA (INTERN TRANSLATOR)