Corruption, terror cases top police job list
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Former attorney general M.A. Rachman's corruption case, Account No. 502 and the arrest of terrorist suspects Azahari and Noordin Moh. Top are some issues police want to pursue in the first 100 days of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's administration.
National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung Sudjono said on Monday that police had drawn up plans on how to handle corruption cases and capture terrorists, including Azahari and Noordin.
"We schedule to finish the dossiers of all graft cases that we are handling, including the Bulog case, Account No. 502 case, and M.A. Rachman case, in the first 100 days of the new government," said Suyitno.
President Susilo, who took his office on Oct. 20, had urged his Cabinet ministers, including National Police chief Gen. Dai'i Bahctiar, to draw up their own 100-day programs.
He had also said that he would personally lead the country's drive against corruption and told his ministers to shy away from corruption, collusion and nepotism practices.
Over the past few years, police have had little success in resolving high-profile corruption and banking cases, including the Rp 20.9 trillion Bank Indonesia Account No. 502 case and the Rp 900 billion State Logistic Agency (Bulog) fiasco.
The government funds in Bank Indonesia Account No. 502 were to cover the financial obligations of closed banks as part of the government's blanket guarantee program.
The graft case surfaced in August 2003 after BPK suspected that Rp 20.9 trillion from the account had been misused by Bank Indonesia (BI) and IBRA.
In the Bulog case, which centers around the embezzlement of fodder subsidy funds, police declared seven suspects in 2003. However, the suspects were later released as police failed to submit solid evidence to the prosecutor's office. Suyitno did not say if they have had new, strong evidence against the suspects.
Even more confusing was the way police dealt with the Account No. 502 case. They had named several high-ranking Bank Indonesia officers and the now-defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency as suspects, but have now denied ever declaring them suspects.
In the case of alleged corruption against Rachman, who was accused of allegedly buying a house with state funds, police could not proceed simply because they did not get permission from former president Megawati Soekarnoputri to question him.
Under existing laws, police have to secure the president's approval if they want to question a Cabinet or a legislator member.
"We have a schedule to interrogate him (Rachman) after we review his case. It is easier for us to question him now because we don't need permission from the president," Suyitno said.
After over a year of investigations, police managed to bring most of the suspects in the Rp 1.7 trillion BNI scandal to court, including Adrian Waworuntu, one of the key suspects in the case. The prime suspect, Maria Pauline Lumowa, however, is still at large.
Suyitno also said that he believed that police investigators could arrest all suicide bombers, including Malaysian fugitives Azahari and Noordin within the 100 days set by the president.
"Besides Azahari and Noordin, there are five more suicide bombers that can anytime conduct suicide bombings. The discovery of TNT in Cicurug, Sukabumi, proves that each of them has high or low explosives," said Suyitno.
He said the five bombers were named as suspects for their involvement in the Sept. 9 bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Kuningan, South Jakarta, and identified them as Ipul, Afuy, Hassan, Jabir and Izal.
Azahari and Noordin are believed to be the masterminds of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, the 2003 JW Marriott Hotel attack that claimed 12 people and last month's deadly suicide bombing outside the Australian Embassy, Kuningan in South Jakarta.
The two have reportedly recruited several new suicide bombers, including those who carried out the blast outside the embassy, which killed 11 people, police said.
Billy also said that his agency had just started preparations to review the performance of IBRA since its establishment in 1998. IBRA is due to finish operating in February.
"We'll look into matters, such as whether those ailing banks have all recovered and whether they'll survive without IBRA. Basically we want to find the answer to whether IBRA has been useful or not," he said.
THE JAKARTA POST -- SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 2004 -- PAGE 13