Police reopening old cases against Gus Dur<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): After long being on the back burner, the
\nNational Police have recently decided to revive the investigation
\nof a number of old cases against former president Abdurrahman
\n"Gus Dur" Wahid.<\/p>\n
"We have studied all the cases and we think that the public
\nare entitled to legal certainty with regard to the complaints
\nthey made to us," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Didi
\nWidayadi told reporters last week.<\/p>\n
The old cases include the defamation complaints filed by Parni
\nHadi, the former chief of the state news agency Antara, in May
\n2000 following his dismissal, and by Soeripto, the suspended
\nsecretary-general of the forestry ministry, in February 2001.<\/p>\n
But why now?<\/p>\n
Didi has flatly denied the rumors that the police are seeking
\nrevenge against Abdurrahman, or Gus Dur as he is familiarly
\nknown, by reviving the old cases against him.<\/p>\n
Soeripto's lawyer Effendi Saman commented, "I think it is
\nbecause now Bimantoro has confidence about his own position and
\nthere are no political barriers preventing the police from
\nsummoning Gus Dur."<\/p>\n
"I doubted that the police would act upon our case at the time
\nit was filed. But I had confidence that once Gus Dur resigned,
\nour case, which has been left sitting for six months by the
\npolice, would be reopened and seriously addressed," Effendi told
\nThe Jakarta Post on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
National Police chief Bimantoro, who replaced Gen. Rusdihardjo
\nlast Sept. 18, has confirmed the police plan.<\/p>\n
He himself was involved in various standoffs with Gus Dur,
\nincluding disagreements over the then president's order to arrest
\nthe fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the president's
\nsecurity policy in Aceh and his plan to issue an emergency decree
\nas a way of dissolving the House of Representatives and the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly, both of which were planning to
\nimpeach him.<\/p>\n
Bimantoro was eventually sacked for refusing to resign only
\ndays before Gus Dur was replaced as president by Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri. But Bimantoro, with the support of both the House
\nand the People's Consultative Assembly, refused to obey the
\npresident's order, forcing Gus Dur to appoint Chaeruddin Ismail
\nto take command of the police with the rank of deputy chief of
\nthe National Police.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Effendi did not rule out the possibility that his
\nclient's action was being used by the police to exact revenge on
\nGus Dur, but said that whatever the motive behind the reopening
\nof his client's case, he strongly welcomed it.<\/p>\n
"But we don't want to be involved in any kind of police
\nrevenge. My sole objective is that my client's complaint is
\nprocessed by the police," he said.<\/p>\n
He said that police should be careful about trying to reopen
\nold cases. "The Police should not misuse their current political
\nfreedom."<\/p>\n
When asked to comment, Soeripto admitted that he was happy to
\nhear that his case was to be reopened. "Whatever their motive, I
\nI appreciate it and look forward to cooperating with them (the
\npolice)," Soeripto told the Post.<\/p>\n
Separately, Parni's lawyer R. Akbar Lubis said that he also
\nwelcomed the reopening of his client's case as long as the move
\nwas made in accordance with the law.<\/p>\n
"What we report to the police has to be separated from any
\npolitical or other interests so that whatever the motives behind
\nthe police initiative are, we hope that the police only take the
\nside of legal necessity," he stressed.<\/p>\n
Akbar said that the police should never delay the
\ninvestigation of complaints for as long as they had been doing
\nunder Gus Dur's administration as what was at issue was the right
\nof members of the public to see justice being done.<\/p>\n
"We only hope that there will be no more people like us
\nwaiting for 18 months to have their complaints processed," Akbar
\nremarked.<\/p>\n
"We're glad that the police are finally going to deal with our
\ncomplaint. But we don't want them (the police) using such
\ncomplaints as ammunition to exact revenge against others," he
\nconcluded. (emf)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-reopening-old-cases-against-gus-dur-1447893297",
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