Bye Bye Chief of Police, Bye Bye Chief of Detectives...

The game might very well be up for both the Chief of Police, Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, and the Chief of Detectives, Comr. Gen. Susno Duaji. That game being their employment in their current positions. Any attempt to maintain them by the president will be a mortal wound for the president as both the Chiefs are tainted beyond salvation. In essence, the president himself signed off on the pink slips when he created the fact-finding team, and then tasked that team with uncovering the truth.

There remain questions of independence considering the president appointed a team to uncover the mentioning of his name in a some wire-tapped conversations. However, the fact-finding team was always going to find that there was no evidence against Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Rianto because there was none to start with.

Indonesian law in its current form would not sustain the trumped-up criminalization of authority charges, and the alleged corruption has to-date not been proved. In fact, there is not even enough in police hands at the moment to even formulate the charge.

The fact finding team is supposedly going to send an interim report to the president that states that there is not enough evidence to proceed against Chandra and Bibit, either on the current charge or the alleged corruption. The president can no longer sit back and say that he is going to let this charade run its legal course. That course is done. The charges against Chandra and Bibit must be dropped and they must be reinstated immediately to their positions as Commissioners on the Corruption Eradication Commission.

This farce has already damaged the president, and any feet-dragging on his part once the fact finding team reports will only further damage his credibility as a corruption fighter.

If the president is worth his salt, then the Chief of Police will resign, or be dismissed, within 24 hours of the fact finding team's report (assuming that they report that there is not enough evidence to proceed). Quite simply, the Chief of Police used a Parliamentary Commission to state publicly that the police had enough evidence to proceed against Chandra on the corruption allegations. This would seem to be a clear case of putting the cart before the horse.

In simple terms, the Chief of Police lied, and he seemingly has misled and lied to the parliament about the state of the police investigation into the allegations.

Furthermore, the Chief of Detectives must also resign or be dismissed. After all this was his own personal vendetta or war against the KPK, and he has been found wanting in the honesty and integrity department. This is in spite of any claims he may have made as God is his witness that he never received any bribes. Whether he did or did not is irrelevant. His pursuit of Chandra and Bibit was a clear abuse of power on his part, and that in itself is sufficient for him to fall on his own sword and resign. If he does not have the desire or courage to fall on his sword, then the president needs to ensure that the man is dismissed from his position.

Once the president has taken the opportunity to clear out the dead wood from the police force, he must then turn his attention to the Office of the Attorney General (AGO). Heads will also need to roll there. And, those heads must continue to roll until a new Attorney General is appointed. Best case scenario for the next AG is that it is a lawyer of good standing and a clean reputation. It cannot be an internal promotion from within the ranks of the AGO as the AGO has shown that as an institution it is tainted with corruption.

The reality is that an outsider with a mandate and the support of the president will have a foot up in terms of cleaning house and setting the AGO on the path of real reform.

This would seemingly be the perfect opportunity for the president to clean house, and start fulfilling the promise of corruption eradication, clean governance, and a brighter future free from institutionalized corruption for all Indonesians.

Postscript...

I should add that the Deputy Attorney General, Abdul Hakim Ritonga, and the Chief of Detectives, Comr. Gen. Susno Duaji, have tendered resignations.

Arrested Development?

All of the strides that Indonesia had made towards preventing and, ultimately, seeking to eliminate corruption are rapidly being undone. The arrest of Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto is proof of the rapid demise of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the rise of the police and the Office of the Attorney General as the lead corruption fighters.

This does not bode well for future corruption eradication efforts as both the police and the office of the attorney general are tainted with numerous corruption scandals and abuse of power. The arrest of Chandra and Bibit is just another one in a long line of scandals.

The fact that the president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono or SBY, gave a press conference indicating that he would not be interfering in the process. Strange because he has already imposed himself on the process when he issued an interim law to appoint three new, albeit temporary, commissioners to the KPK. So, to say he would not interfere seems a little strange.

Nevertheless, the president is probably still smarting from the slap down that the Constitutional Court handed him when it held that the interim law and that any dismissal of Chandra and Bibit did not fit within the confines of the constitution until such time as a court case had been concluded.

The president is also smarting because a transcript of an alleged wiretap highlighting that the police and the office of the attorney general conspired to frame Chandra and Bibit has surfaced. Why is he smarting? Maybe because his name came up as being aware of the frame.

Although the president has said he will not interfere in the process, he has nevertheless instructed the Chief of Police to take all necessary steps to uncover the wiretapper and bring them to justice. Sounds a little like closing the barn door once the horse has bolted. But, Mr. President, it is time to clean this mess up, isn't it?

What is truly bizarre about this case is that Chandra and Bibit have been officially arrested for abusing their statutory powers to issue and revoke travel bans on suspected corruptors. It is not rocket science to work out that this is an administrative law issue. It is not rocket science to work out that the criminalization of administrative powers and authorities is a slippery slope that the police, of all institutions, do not want to find themselves on.

Once this case unfolds and Chandra and Bibit are found to not have abused their statutory power, perhaps they can then launch criminal actions against the police for their obvious abuse of power, particularly now that the president, the attorney general, and the police have sort to allow the criminalization of administrative power.

Perhaps the people of Sidoarjo need to launch some criminal action against the president for his administrative failures over the mud extrusion, which has seen the victims not receive their due compensation despite the president in effect setting out how that compensation was to be calculated and awarded.

On the funny side, in that perversely funny kind of a way, the police have thrown a huge number of resources at trying to create a case that both Chandra and Bibit took bribes. They have obviously failed to make the grade on this one, as the arrest warrant was for an alleged abuse of power. After all this time if the police cannot make the case that they promised to make, then it is unlikely that they are going to succeed in the future.

It is time that the police ante-up with something that is sufficient to sustain the case they allege that they have against Chandra and Bibit. If they cannot ante-up then someone has to make the call to end this charade. It obviously will not be the Chief of Police, and it will not be the president, perhaps the courts can?

What is truly funny though is that the police have justified the arrest on the grounds that Chandra and Bibit, along with their legal representatives, have been holding press conferences as a means of influencing public opinion against the police and the investigation. It is said that these press conferences are negatively impacting on the investigation.

Ah, probably not. The press conferences might be shedding some light on how poorly the police have performed in this case. It might also be a case of the press conferences are bringing to light that Indonesia is regressing back into the old ways of the New Order of Soeharto.

It is time for the police and the office of the attorney general to call it quits and let this one go. Then the heads must roll. First head off the rank must be Susno Duaji, then followed shortly after by the Chief of Police, Bambang Danuri.

Ultimately, these shenanigans are going to be a "legacy crusher" for SBY. He will be remembered as the president that talked a good game on anti-corruption but could never deliver the goods. In fact, he will be remembered for presiding over the demise of one of the few success stories in the fight against corruption in Indonesia.

Viva Chandra!

Viva Bibit!

Viva KPK!

Viva Indonesia!

Look Whose Smiling Now...Will it Last?

There are some things that just beggar belief and then there are those things that just seem too stupid for words. But, any of you that have read this blog will know that I am rarely stuck for words even when things seem to be too stupid for them.

Comm. Gen. (Police) Susno Duaji found time to make a visit to the Corruption Eradication Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi / KPK) to get an update, or as he would prefer to call it, a clarification. Why is this too stupid for words? Anyone who thinks a little bit about this situation will see that this is nothing short of a very public attempt at intimidation. Duaji is saying, "You wanna mess with me, then you end up a suspect, and out of a job!"

This sort of behaviour is reminiscent of a Mafioso made man. It is the behaviour of a man who thinks his back is covered and he is protected. Just sometimes, and only sometimes, these are the people that are most exposed. If for no other reason than they are expendable as the bigger fish look to tie off any loose ends.

By putting himself front and centre on this one, Duaji also becomes the most likely to take the fall or become the scape goat when this whole affair goes pear-shaped. And, it will go pear-shaped, and perhaps soon.

The focus here needs to be only on Duaji at this point in time. Somehow, I believe that there are plenty of people who would share my belief that Duaji wants it no other way.

This post does not lend itself to a very long expose. The spat between the KPK and Duaji, and perhaps the Police, is long on details. Nevertheless, there are a few pertinent details that are worth repeating, along with some educated speculation about why it came about in the first place. It is also worth noting that this is bigger than one man and a couple of state institutions in the form of the KPK and the police.

There are others involved here. This case involves a traceable money trail and it goes without saying that perhaps the Indonesian Financial Transactions Reports and Analysis Center (Pusat Pelaporan dan Analisis Transaksi Keuangan / PPATK) uncovered a trail of cash and other illicit payments that may implicate a number of those individuals that seem intent on shutting down any KPK investigation into Bank Century, and by default Bank Indonesia (Indonesian Central Bank).

Interestingly, if this case does involve BI, and it seemingly does, then who would be involved at that level? When the Bank Century bail out was being discussed and ultimately approved, the Vice President-elect was at the helm. One would have to wonder whether or not there is going to be a concerted effort to shield the VP-elect from any fallout that may eventuate. So, in that case, who takes the fall? Sri Mulyani Indrawati?

It would also seem that the Office of the Attorney General is intricately and intimately involved in the process of facilitating this fiasco. There is plenty already in the public record that suggests that, at least, at the second tier level of AGO officials there was a concerted effort to facilitate an end to the Anggoro Widjojo investigation.

This is a case that will unravel because their are too many hands in the cookie jar.

There is little doubt that Duaji has gone "balls to the wall" on this one. He is investing everything that he has to protect his interests, and perhaps the interests of some others as well. So much so that there are clear breaches of the police code of ethics with respect to the abuse of authority and in terms of more technical aspects of police officers doing their duty and fulfilling their obligations as officers.

It is time that the Chief of Police and the President became more pro-actively involved in this issue. The Chief of Police must stand Duaji down until the investigations are complete.

The potential for this mess to become even uglier and dirtier is huge. Sometimes it is worth while just sitting back and thinking about how big this case has become and how big it is likely to become.

Is it big enough to bring down SBY? Who knows? What does seem certain is that more heads are going to roll!

(Photo courtesy of here)

Corruption at the KPK...

The fight for justice against corruption is never easy. It never has been and never will be. It exacts a toll on our self, our families, our friends, and especially our children. In the end, I believe, as in my case, the price we pay is well worth holding on to our dignity.

-- Frank Serpico

It is certainly going to be interesting to watch this particular case unfold. If for no other reason that you have two commissioners of the Corruption Eradication Commission (Komisi Pemberantasan Korupsi / KPK), Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto, accused of taking bribes to drop a case against a local Indonesian businessman who has since fled, and is thought to be living in Singapore.

Interesting because both successfully negotiated a very long and difficult vetting process which ultimately saw them appointed to the KPK, and by default one would have to assume that the vetting process turned up nothing of contention and certainly nothing that would have pegged them as being corrupt.

So, it appears, at least to the police, after having had long and successful careers outside of the KPK both Chandra and Bibit have turned to the dark side and take a bribe of allegedly IDR 1 billion for Chandra and IDR 1.5 billion for Bibit. Chandra allegedly collected his bribe, in cash, at Pasar Festival, and Bibit collected his at the Bellagio Residences.

This is most definitely out of character. So much so, that it seems almost impossible that the police are going to be able to put together a sustainable case. Particularly when it seems that the police have not been able to track the money nor place any other eyewitness accounts of the alleged payoffs. This is surprising for Pasar Festival as it is a place that generally has large numbers of people about.

However, the police have to have something because it would be extremely poor judgment to proceed without sufficient evidence. On the evidence front, the primary evidence is said to be an unsworn statement by the former Head of the KPK, Antasari Azhar, who is waiting to go to trial for his alleged role in a murder conspiracy.

It is a big call for the police to want to try and take these allegations all the way by filing a dossier with the Office of the Attorney General if the only "solid" evidence is an unsworn statement from an individual facing some pretty serious charges. The police have also said that they expect to file more criminal charges on top of the abuse of authority charges and the more recent bribery charges. But, they are not at liberty to disclose what those charges are likely to be.

The police case against Chandra and Bibit is simply that they abused their authority as commissioners of the KPK by seeking, obtaining, and then removing a travel ban against Anggoro Widjaja and Djoko Tjandra. Apart from some rather obvious repercussions of criminalizing administrative powers, the police case has absolutely no chance of success.

The idea that the administrative functions of public officials can be criminalized is one that even Indonesian courts will find a little repugnant. Mainly because if the courts were to accept arguments then by logical extension many, if not all, of the administrative functions of all public officials would conceivably be criminalized, perhaps even those of the president.

When the police realized the weakness of the case it was seemingly decided that there was a need to up the ante with criminal charges relating to bribery. If there is a fishy smell about this then it is that the Head of the Criminal Investigation Branch, Comr. Gen. Susno Duaji, that is investigating this alleged crime is also caught up in a KPK investigation relating to Bank Century.

Bank Century is the bank that was bailed out by the government under somewhat debatable circumstances as to the importance of the Bank to the overall Indonesian economy and during a time where the founders and upper level executives were allegedly syphoning off large sums of cash.

Therefore, it would seem to be a simple ask that the Chief of National Police, Bambang Danuri, would remove Duaji from his position in order to avoid any apparent conflict of interest. Any failure to do so will continually expose the police as a whole not only to the idea that there is a personal element of payback to this investigation, but that the police themselves are operating not solely in their own interest and the interest of the broader community, rather they have abandoned the ideal of the broader community to act on behalf of a couple of individual citizens who have fled the jurisdiction.

Perception is sometimes more powerful than the truth, the idea that the pen is mightier than the sword.