Police awaiting permit in AG case
Police awaiting permit in AG case
P.C. Naommy, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The police have blamed the unresponsive state bureaucracy for
their inability to question Attorney General M.A. Rachman over
allegations of his involvement in corruption.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Basyir Barmawi said on
Monday that the police had already followed the set
administrative procedures by submitting a request for
presidential permission to summon Rachman for questioning.
"We sent our request to President Megawati so long ago that I
have forgotten exactly when it was. Even National Police chief
Gen. Da'i Bachtiar also sent a request. Given that permission has
not yet been given, it is obvious that the problem is not on our
side," said Basyir.
Any investigation of senior state officeholders, such as
Cabinet ministers, House of Representatives' members, or, as in
this case, the Attorney General, requires the written permission
of the president.
He said that it would be impossible for the police to violate
administrative rules. "We are the upholders of the law. What
would happen if we were to violate it?" he asked.
The Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN)
previously complained that the police were using the absence of
presidential permission to summon Rachman as justification for
not investigating the allegations of corruption that had been
laid against him.
"It's not true to say that we are less than committed to
investigating corruption cases. We are committed and consistent
in line with democracy and reform in this country," said Basyir.
He said there was no need to review the progress of the
investigation as that would only need to be done if the
investigators came up against problems in questioning witnesses.
"Such problems have not arisen, and the investigators have
already questioned a number of witnesses. The only problem is
that permission has yet to be given by the President," added
Basyir.
The KPKPN reported Rachman to the police in December 2002
after it found discrepancies between Rachman's wealth declaration
and its inquiries on the ground.
The attorney general failed to declare a luxurious house worth
around Rp 5 billion located at Jl. Penida 10 in the Graha Cinere
housing complex in Limo district, Depok, West Java.
The commission also found that Rachman failed to clarify the
source of bank deposits in his name totaling Rp 800 million.
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who has the authority to
appoint or remove the attorney general, refused to dismiss
Rachman, saying that firing him would not resolve the problem and
that the case was politically motivated.