Standoff Dj Vu

TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman, Abraham Samad, was on a special mission when he recently visited the office of Police Chief, General Timur Pradopo. Accompanied by long with Zulkarnain, his deputy chairman, Abraham wanted to convey important news: that the KPK had begun investigating a corruption case involving the procurement of driving simulators by the Police Traffic Division.Abraham said he wanted Timur to receive information first-hand from him. This was a sort of polite measure, as a fellow law enforcement body, he told Tempo, last week. The procurement of automobile and motorcycle driving simulators for drivers license tests, a project costing Rp196.87 billion, was funded by the 2011 budget.This corruption case was not an ordinary: the KPK named Inspector General Djoko Susilo as a suspect. This governor of the Police Academy is charged with abuse of his authority, causing losses to state finances. This makes him the first active senior police officer to be named a suspect by the KPK. The investigation order was signed on July 27, which Abraham showed to General Timur.Timur, who was accompanied by the chief of the Crime Investigation Unit, Com.Gen. Sutarman, did not say much. According to Sutarman, Timur only asked for one or two days to discuss the case internally. I also asked for time to meet with KPK leaders in order to make a presentation, the next day, he said. Abraham agreed.The two guests excused themselves from National Police Headquarters after meeting for an hour and a half, returning to their respective offices.On another road, 30 KPK officers in seven automobiles headed to the headquarters of the Traffic Division in South Jakarta. None of them were wearing KPK vests. When they arrived at their destination, they did not immediately get out of the cars, but remained parked outside the complex. An operations staff contacted Abraham, who had already gone back. He asked for permission to begin the raid, said Abraham.Abraham discussed the matter with other KPK leaders. After a short meeting the top five KPK officialsAbraham, Busyro Mukodas, Bambang Widjojanto, Adnan Pandu, and Zulkarnaengave the go-ahead. I immediately called back and told him to proceed, said Abraham.The members of the KPK task force raced into the offices of the Traffic Division. Most of its employees had already left. The head of the Traffic Division, Inspector General Pudji Hartanto, according to a Tempo source, received the guests, also the the Assistant Head of the Traffic Division, Brig.Gen Didik Purnomo. All of the other officers were wearing KPK vests, which are always worn during raids.Feeling the need to inform him, according to Abraham, Bambang Widjojanto contacted Sutarman. After repeated attempts to contact him, the general was not answering the phone. Only later, after being sent a text message that the raid was underway, did Sutarman, former Jakarta Police Chief, call back and say that he would go to the KPKs office.At 5:30pm, Sutarman, accompanied by Brig. Gen.Nur Ali, Director of Crimes of Corruption at the Crime Investigation Unit, arrived at the KPK leadership meeting room. Sutarman questioned the raid. He also asked that the drivers license simulator corruption case not be investigated by the KPK. Just allow us to handle it, he said, as cited by an eyewitness.According to the same source, Abraham gave a vague reply: the decision on that would have to be discussed with the investigating task force. After Sutarman left, the five KPK leaders held another meeting for some 20 minutes. They had decided not to grant Sutarmans request. Speaking to Tempo, Sutarman confirmed he made that request. Setri Yasra, Rusman Paraqbueq, Angrita Cahyaningtyas