Gen. Bimantoro takes 10-day leave of absence

JAKARTA (JP): Outgoing National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro is taking a leave of absence, following Monday's incident when 150 middle-ranking police officers managed to make rebellious statements against him, in a meeting that top police generals had no prior knowledge of.

Bimantoro is taking his 10-day leave as of Tuesday, reportedly for a general checkup in Singapore.

Other police generals also taking leave following Monday's incident are National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi, and National Police Chief of Detectives, Insp. Gen. Engkesman Hillep.

"During his leave, the day-to-day duties of Gen. Bimantoro will be taken over temporarily by National Police deputy chief Comr. Gen. Chaeruddin Ismail," Aritonang told reporters at his office on Tuesday.

"Of course, Gen. Bimantoro still holds the staff of command."

Chaeruddin had been handpicked by President Abdurrahman Wahid in early July to take over Bimantoro's duties, while Bimantoro was suspended via a presidential decree.

The suspension was later revoked in another presidential decree, which stated that Bimantoro had instead been "honorably dismissed" as National Police chief.

Engkesman said that he would also be going for a general checkup with Bimantoro over a three day period.

"We need this checkup," he said, while Aritonang later stressed that their leave of absence had nothing to do with Monday's incident and that the generals had requested for the leave long beforehand.

In the incident, which shocked a number of police generals on Monday, officers ranging from adjutant senior commissioners to senior commissioners demanded Bimantoro stop disobeying orders and comply with the instruction of President Abdurrahman to vacate his post.

The meeting had been carefully planned, but police generals at the National Police Intelligence Directorate, the National Police Detectives Division and the National Police Internal Affairs claimed that they had no prior knowledge of the meeting.

An inspector general, who requested anonymity, told The Jakarta Post that in his own way, the President had won.

"There were always rifts within the National Police. I hate to admit this... but it seems that man (Abdurrahman) has succeeded in heightening friction within the National Police," the inspector general said.

"A really terrible thing happened. Officers belonging to the middle and low divisions at the National Police Headquarters... they knew. This information was kept from us."

Separately, chief of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) Hendardi said on Tuesday that Monday's incident was praiseworthy and that the middle-ranking officers who made the rebellious statements proved their impartiality and independence of thought.

"To say what those officers did, as an act of disobedience towards their chief would be wrong. What they did, was within the limits of our existing regulations," Hendardi said, in a faxed statement to the Post. (ylt)