Police hailed for drive against terrorism, drug merchants
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.