'I campaigned for Mega,' says police chief

'I campaigned for Mega,' says police chief

Abdul Khalik and Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Semarang

Former Banyumas Police chief Sr. Comr. Andi Mapparesa admitted
during a police professional ethics board hearing on Wednesday
that he had been partial and had acted beyond his authority by
endorsing President Megawati Soekarnoputri for reelection in a
May 29 meeting.

"I admit that I promoted a particular presidential candidate
in front of police family members and retired police officers. I
admit that I violated the police code of ethics by being
partial," said Mapparesa.

The hearing, which was open to the public, was convened after
the Election Supervisory Body (Panwaslu) announced that Mapparesa
had violated the Constitution by giving a speech in support of
Megawati's candidacy.

Panwaslu also asserted that he had broken the underlying
principles of impartiality and fairness that police officers must
uphold during elections.

According to Article 28 of Law No. 2/2002 on the National
Police, police officers must shun political activities.

In front of seven ethics board members chaired by National
Police Gen. Comr. Gen. Binarto, Mapparesa explained that he had
wanted to illustrate the success of the current government to
family members of police personnel.

"I ask for forgiveness if my actions violated the police code
of ethics, which I never intended. I guess I misinterpreted an
order from the National Police chief," said Mapparesa.

He did not explain to which order he was referring.

The commission also presented the testimonies of four
witnesses, including Banyumas Police deputy chief Adj. Sr. Comr.
Bambang Yulianto and Banjarnegara Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr.
Widianto Pusako.

The University of Indonesia Alumni Association (Iluni) handed
in a video to the authorities showing Andi and his wife inferring
that police offices would be disadvantaged if someone other than
Megawati won the Sept. 20 election runoff.

The police admitted subsequently that Mapparesa had campaigned
for Megawati in the May 29 meeting in Banjarnegara, Central Java.

To avoid further controversy, Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar
removed Mapparesa from his post the following day on the grounds
that he had violated a direct order to stay neutral in the
election and not to campaign for any candidate.

Binarto said after the hearing that the ethics board would
announce its ruling next week, and that no more testimonies would
be heard. He added that there would be no further hearings.

"He can be given light administrative punishment, such as he
has already been given. However, we might also decide that he
doesn't deserve to be a police officer," said Binarto.

Meanwhile, the Central Java Police have suspended their
investigation into the VCD case to avoid the case being used as a
political commodity.

"We want to calm the situation by suspending the
investigation. All previous investigations into the matter
conducted by the Banjarnegara and Banyumas police won't be
considered," said Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Chaerul
Rasyid.

He said the investigation would resume as soon as the
situation calmed down.

He also said that Puji Raharjo was no longer a suspect in the
VCD case because the police lacked evidence against him. Puji is
a newly elected Banjarnegara legislator from the Golkar Party.