Haris Azhar Asks Jokowi to Set Up Independent Investigation Team  

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Haris Azhar, the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has asked President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to set up an independent team to investigate the alleged testimony of drug big shot Freddy Budiman.

Freddy Budiman, who was one of four drug death row prisoners executed late last month on the island of Nusakambangan, was allegedly claimed to have bribed leaders of law enforcement agencies with hundreds of billions of rupiah to protect his illicit business.

Haris Azhar, who is in the center of big controversy for publishing the alleged testimony, have been reported to the police Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) on charge of defamation by the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) , state Police and the military (TNI).

Haris asked the president to step in and set up a special team to find the truth behind the statement accusing element of the state apparatuses of being involved in drug business.

"In the Police Headquarters there is a team. In BNN and TNI there are also such teams. I ask the president to step in by set up a team that the teams of the three institutions could work in synergy with the team formed by the president," Haris said on Wednesday.

A number of leading lawyers in Jakarta have also urged the president to form a team made of strictly independent figures.

Haris said investigations by the independent teams of the police, BNN and TNI, would not be enough to get the truth from the alleged testimony given to him by Freddy in 2014.

"Responses of the three institutions were more as a clarification," he said, adding, while the purpose is to get to the root allegation.

He said it would be better if the president forms a special team to unearth the truth and unveil any involvement of the state apparatuses in drug Mafia.

He said he hoped that the information he got from Freddy could be used as an opportunity to reform law enforcement agencies and take action against apparatuses involved in the drug business.

In his article `Rotten Story from a Bandit` Haris wrote alleged testimony of Freddy as saying "Based on my calculation in the years of work to smuggle narcotics , I have given Rp450 billion to BNN officials. I have given Rp90 billion to certain officials of the police headquarters. I have even used a car of a two star TNI general.

ANTARA