Police officers to face disciplinary court
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.