'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.