Megawati urged to sack Bimantoro for inconsistency

Megawati urged to sack Bimantoro for inconsistency

JAKARTA (JP): Two outspoken legislators called on President
Megawati Soekarnoputri on Tuesday to sack National Police chief
Gen. Surojo Bimantoro for his alleged inconsistency in applying a
decree on the role of the National Police.

"The public hope for Bimantoro to improve the police's
tarnished image is fading because of his inconsistency with the
decree," J. Sahetapy, a legislator of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), said, referring to People's
Consultative Assembly (MPR) Decree No. 7/2000 on the role of the
Indonesian Military and the police.

He said the President should not extend Bimantoro's term of
office as the latter would enter his mandatory pension age of 55
next month.

Speaking before attending a hearing between the police and the
House's special committee on the deliberation of a bill on the
National Police, Sahetapy said that the inconsistency showed that
such an official could not be expected to repair the police's
tarnished image.

Sahetapy, who is also a professor of law at the University of
Airlangga in Surabaya, East Java, said many sides were
disappointed by Bimantoro's decision to establish a military-
style honorary council to investigate eight middle-ranking police
officers for their alleged defiant actions against his policy.

"To be consistent with the decree, Bimantoro should have
brought the eight officers to the district court to prove whether
they were guilty or not," he said.

"Bimantoro's other disappointing action was his resistance to
his suspension by former president Abdurrahman Wahid. His
promotion to the top position in the National Police is void as
well because it did not gain approval from the House of
Representatives," he said.

Decree No. 7/2000 regulates that the president has the
authority to replace the National Police chief with consent from
the House and to place the police under the jurisdiction of
civilian law.

Sahetapy also criticized the police for the whereabouts of
fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, former president
Soeharto's youngest son and the recent death of retired Army
officer Sgt. Wiyono, a key witness to Tommy's whereabouts and the
killing of Justice Safiuddin Kartasasmita.

"I'm not surprised the police are unable to enforce the law
because their leader is inconsistent with the regulations. The
police must bear in mind that all these cases have tarnished
their image and that is why I call on the President to dismiss
him," he said, citing he knew Bimantoro well, had no personal
problems with him.

Effendy Choirie, a legislator of the National Awakening Party
(PKB), shared Sahetapy's remarks, saying that Bimantoro was not
only inconsistent but also violated the MPR decree.

"The establishment of the honor council to try the eight
middle-ranking police officers is against the MPR decree. Both
the President and the House should take stern action against
Bimantoro," he said.

"The House must call on the President to sack Bimantoro for
violating the decree," he said.

Agun Gunandjar, a legislator of the Golkar Party, urged the
National Police to be wise enough in handling the case of the
eight police officers in a bid to help calm down the heated
situation in the police's organization.

"It's better for Bimantoro to be wise so as to avoid too much
unrest caused by the case because the police need to be focused
for them to carry out their numerous tasks," he said.

Despite the criticism, however, Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi,
spokesman for the National Police defended the establishment of
the honor council to investigate the eight officers, saying it
was in line with the police's code of ethics.

"The honor council was established to seek explanations from
the officers and to provide recommendations to the police
leadership on what measures should be taken against them," he
said.

Didi, who accompanied Bimantoro in the meeting with the
House's special committee, said that the eight officers would be
brought to the tribunal if the honor council made such a
recommendation. (rms)