Police officers to face disciplinary court

Abdul Khalik, Jakarta

The National Police said on Tuesday former Banyumas Police chief Sr. Comr. Andi Mapparesa will face a disciplinary commission after the Election Supervisory Body (Panwaslu) found he had violated the election principle of fairness.

"The police chief accepted the body's findings and will follow them up by setting up a disciplinary commission to hear the case," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Paiman said after a meeting between National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar and Panwaslu chairman Komaruddin Hidayat.

The hearing is scheduled to start next week, Paiman said.

Komaruddin met Da'i to submit the results of Panwaslu's examination of the case.

Panwaslu said on Monday that Mapparesa had violated the Constitution by exhibiting a preference for presidential candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri during a videotaped meeting with the wives and families of police officers and retirees in the Central Java town of Banjarnegara on June 29.

The election watchdog asserted that Mapparesa broke the underlying principles of impartiality and fairness that every police officer must uphold during an election.

Da'i said Panwaslu's findings would complement the evidence police had gathered in their investigation.

Mapparesa will be the first officer to face the disciplinary commission as recommended by Panwaslu, with other officers to follow depending upon the probe now being conducted by the police's internal affairs division.

The case surfaced after the Association of University of Indonesia Alumni (Iluni) produced a video compact disc, which depicts Mapparesa and his wife hinting at their support of Megawati, by identifying the disadvantages the police would face if the incumbent president lost the election.

After their initial denial, the police admitted that Mapparesa was campaigning for Megawati.

Da'i quickly replaced Mapparesa on the grounds that he had acted against orders, which Da'i had given in a letter. The letter said the police must remain neutral and refrain from campaigning for a certain candidate.

Iluni, however, said Da'i should be held responsible for the incident and, therefore, quit his job for leading the police force to favor a certain candidate.

Da'i dismissed the demand saying he had taken corrective action by transferring Mapparesa to Jakarta.

Paiman said the Banjarnegara Police chief and other Banjarnegara precinct officers could also face the disciplinary commission if internal affairs found enough evidence to charge them.

"We await a report from internal affairs that will verify whether or not other officers were involved in campaign activities," he said.

The police also plan to question one of the suspects, Puji Raharjo, for his role in distributing the VCD.