TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Presidential Spokesman Johan Budi condemned the hydrochloric acid attack on KPK investigator Novel Baswedan. He has called for the police to immediately investigate the case whatever the motive would be.
Johan is profusely against the incident, especially if the attack is proven to be an attempt to impede Novel Baswedan’s investigation. “It’s barbaric and must not let it get away,” he said on Tuesday, April 11, 2017.
However, he said that he does not want to over-speculate and he trusts the investigation to authorities. “I personally hope that the investigation [of the case] can see who the perpetrator is, who the mastermind is, and what their motives are,” Johan Budi said.
Read: Police Say Two Individuals Attack KPK`s Novel Baswedan
Early this morning, Novel Baswedan was heading home after having performed the morning prayer at a mosque in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, when suddenly two suspects riding a motorcycle attacked him with hydrochloric acid.
North Jakarta Police are currently investigating the case at the crime scene. They discovered a potential evidence of a cup nearby which was allegedly used to contain the hydrochloric acid.
According to Budi, Novel Baswedan frequently experiences a number of attacks. Based on our records, he once was a victim of a hit-and-run while he was riding his motorcycle to his office in Kuningan, South Jakarta. He has also been jailed for the death of a suspect while he was an investigator in Bengkulu in 2004.
Novel Baswedan is currently investigating the mega-corruption case regarding the procurement of the electronic ID card or e-KTP project. He also led the investigation on the driver’s license simulator corruption case.
VINDRY FLORENTIN
