Police shrug off corruption report
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The National Police have shrugged off a report that declares it to be the second most corrupt institution in the country, saying the accusation was without foundation.
Director of the Special Economic Crime unit Brig. Gen. Andi Chaeruddin said that he could not respond to the results of the survey because there was no hard evidence to support the claims.
"If someone comes in and gives us a report, bringing along necessary evidence and several witnesses, as determined in the Criminal Code (KUHAP), then we can start investigating," Andi told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.
"Without any evidence or testimonials from witnesses -- and there must be more than one witness -- then why waste our time with something so obscure?" Andi added.
Transparency International Indonesia (TII) last week unveiled the results of its latest corruption survey, which named the police as the second most corrupt institution in the country after the customs office.
Survey respondents said they had to pay bribes to the police approximately 12 times a year, with the average amount paid each time being Rp 1.71 million (US$185).
The result of the TII survey is in line with earlier research conducted last year by some 147 Police Academy students. The survey, which took place in 19 regions across the country, found that corruption is deeply rooted within the institution.
Many examples of corruption were given in the research report including the "buying and selling" of top positions and ranks in the police, bribery in the recruitment of new officers, and corruption in the distribution of supplies and police budgetary funds.
Other forms of very common corrupt practices committed by police officers included demanding bribes from motorists violating traffic regulations, extorting money from people obtaining driving licenses, and demanding "protection money" from business people.
In early February this year, the Internal Affairs division at National Police headquarters discovered that officers from the West Jakarta police refused to detain an owner of a gambling den during a raid because the owner had already paid amounts of money to these officers.
According to sources, the owner of the gambling den had regularly paid some Rp 3 billion to the West Jakarta police, the Jakarta police and the National Police every month in order to protect the illegal operation.
Separately, Director of the Corruption Crime unit Brig. Indarto said that he would wait for instructions from the chief of the National Police before following-up on issues raised in the TII report.
"If Pak Da'i gives the instruction for me to investigate the case (the TII report) then I will carry it out immediately," Indarto told The Post, referring to National Police Chief Da'i Bachtiar.
Indarto said that so far none of his superiors had given him instructions, thus, he could not start investigations.
"Even if the chief has given an order, the internal affairs unit must investigate first, to see if there are any police officers who have violated the police code of ethics.
"If the unit finds that there is a criminal element in the case, then Internal Affairs will hand us the case and we'll continue it from there, just as in Pak Ismoko's case," Indarto added.
Brig. Gen. Samuel Ismoko was found guilty by a police disciplinary hearing for committing "undisciplined" acts during the investigation of the Rp 1.7 trillion Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) scam case.
Ismoko is now scheduled to appear in court for allegedly receiving $20,000 and Rp 500 million in bribes from the main suspect in the case, Adrian Waworuntu.