JP/4/year

JP/4/year

Eva C. Komandjaja
The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Although the police institution in the country remains a target
of public criticism, mainly over the lack of professionalism and
skill, it does deserve some praise for the efforts in combating
terrorism and curbing illegal drug distribution in the country.

However, the corruption eradication campaign is still far from
satisfactory.

Starting with the replacement of the national police chief in
July, the president's hand-picked successor, Gen. Sutanto,
pledged to reform the institution by first turning the force into
an independent institution despite his close ties to President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -- they were classmates at the Military
Academy in 1973.

Sutanto, who was promoted to the rank of commissioner general
in February, also had taken command of the National Narcotics
Agency. Susilo asked Sutanto, who rose to prominence due to his
perceived tough stance against gambling, to focus on corruption
eradication, fuel smuggling, illegal logging and drug
trafficking.

After he assumed the position as chief in July, his biggest
achievement in the year 2005 can be counted in the war against
terrorism after his men managed to corner and kill Azahari bin
Husin, one of the country's most wanted men, in a police raid in
Malang, East Java.

Azahari and his compatriot Noordin M. Top, both Malaysian
nationals, are believed to be the masterminds of a series of
bombing attacks in the country between 2000 and 2005.

They are also suspected to be key members of local terror
network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), which is known to have links to
Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.

The most recent terror attack by JI was the Oct. 1 restaurant
suicide bombings on Bali, strong believed to be the handiwork of
Azahari and Noordin's foot soldiers as revealed in their
confessions recorded on video before the attack.

However, the police are still searching for Noordin, who
slipped through the police's hands during another raid in
Semarang, Central Java.

In combating illegal drugs, Sutanto has been much more
successful as he managed to raid two major ecstasy factories in
Serang, West Java and Banyuwangi, East Java, in November.

The Serang factory was the world's third largest and it was
capable of producing a million ecstasy pills a day with a street
value of an estimated Rp 100 billion (US$10 million).

The Banyuwangi factory, although much smaller than the one
found in Serang, was capable of producing 12,000 ecstasy pills a
day. The factory could earn up to Rp 28.8 billion per month.

Being successful with terrorism and drugs, Sutanto, however,
has not been able to fulfill his vow to eradicate gambling in the
country. During his first days in charge, he said that he would
eliminate gambling permanently and ordered all regional police
chiefs to start the crackdown in their own areas.

However, Sutanto's wish to eradicate gambling has not come
true, reportedly because there are still too many officers
reluctant to seriously crack down on the casinos, which they
allegedly profit from via their own protection racket.

Forgetting gambling and focusing on repairing his own house,
Sutanto moved forward with a plan to enforce the law among the
law enforcement personnel and start a police reform era.

The reform process began with several police officers
undergoing disciplinary hearings or criminal investigations for
their criminal acts, which had long remained kept under the
carpet.

By replacing Insp. Gen. Supriyadi as the internal affairs
division head with former head of the telecommunications division
Insp. Gen. Yusuf Manggabarani, Sutanto began his mission in
investigating corrupt officials, including high-ranking officers.

One example was the investigation of former head of the fraud
squad at the National Police Headquarters Brig. Gen. Samuel
Ismoko and his subordinate Sr. Comr. Irman Santosa for allegedly
receiving bribes from a corruption convict.

Both have been declared suspects by the head of the
investigation team since the investigators found a large amount
of evidence linking them to bribery and abuse of power when they
were investigating the high-profile corruption case involving
Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) in 2003.

Former chief of detectives at the National Police Headquarters
Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung had also been named a suspect in the
case.

The chief of the Tebing Tinggi Police in North Sumatra has
lost his job for his role in the smuggling of sugar, and the
chief of the Bogor Police has been replaced in connection with
illegal fees imposed on people applying for driver's licenses.

Another general caught by the internal affairs division net is
head of the general supervision division Comr. Gen. Binarto. He
was accused of abusing his authority by ordering East Java's sea
police director Sr. Comr. Toni Suhartono to release a ship and
its crew alleged to be smuggling fuel.

Interestingly, Binarto later submitted a resignation letter to
the national police chief before his disciplinary hearing started
in December.

Another case involving police misconduct were the findings of
suspicious transactions in 14 police officer's bank accounts. The
Financial Transaction and Report Comptroller (PPATK) discovered
the suspicious transactions and reported to the police chief.

The investigations into the accounts are still ongoing. Three
case files for bank accounts belong to a one-star general with
the initial Z and two middle-ranking officers identified by the
initials MR and KM, have been submitted to the prosecutors.
However, the investigation into the 11 other cases have not as
yet.

Indonesian Police Watch (IPW) executive director Neta S. Pane
criticized the police for moving too slowly in handling internal
corruption.

"The police should be in the vanguard of the corruption
eradication campaign. Ironically, the institution has been
tainted by bribery, budget mark-ups and theft of state money,"
Neta said.

However, with the recent reshuffle of 13 high-ranking police
officers, one can expect the improvement within the institution
as well as reforms since the reshuffle marked an end to the
seniority-based career moves. Sutanto has chosen officers with
capability and capacity for the new posts.

In a telegram dated Dec. 9, made public on Saturday, Sutanto
appointed 13 new regional police chiefs, of whom eight will get a
promotion in rank.

Also promoted was Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Made Mangku
Pastika, who will become the operational chief of the National
Narcotics Agency, a post left vacant by Sutanto following his
appointment as National Police chief in July.

Sr. Comr. Indradi Tanoes, who recently led the raid on the
world's third largest ecstasy plant in Serang, Banten, also
earned a promotion as the head of the drug squad at the National
Police Detective Directorate.

Sutanto has also dismissed the Bogor police chief Sr. Comr.
Tjiptono for sexual harassment, three months after his
predecessor Sr. Comr. Bambang Wasgito was demoted for his alleged
role in an assault on a subordinate officer.

It seems that the police force is gearing up for the future
with reforms and improvement. Without tight law enforcement,
Indonesia will be a country left in the possession of criminals
and terrorists.