Police's choice of investigation questioned
Yogita Tahilramani The Jakarta Post Jakarta
Is crime the only factor that fuels police investigations in Indonesia?
This question has often been asked by the general public over the past few years and remains relevant today, particularly with the emergence of two controversial criminal cases being investigated in the capital, which are both different in content and in the degree of crime.
While Jakarta Police focuses on an investigation into the recent pornographic audition of models, including Rizky Pritasari (see photo left) for a bath soap advertisement, which was taped and reproduced on thousands of porn VCDs here but sold in Bandung, West Java, the National Police is allegedly lagging behind in its investigation of a nationwide luxury car smuggling ring, allegedly involving police officers.
Why have the Jakarta Police taken over the pornography case when it was in the hands of Bandung Police, particularly because the VCDs were being distributed and sold largely in Bandung?
City Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said the Jakarta Police had taken over the case because the audition had taken place at PT Indochroma production house on Jl. Percetakan Negara in Central Jakarta.
"It's not for fun and games. Nearly all the witnesses are based in Jakarta and the site for the audition was in Jakarta. We have three suspects at hand now and are searching for two others who are currently at large," Anton told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Although Anton stressed money was not a motive for the police to take over the investigation, it is a known fact that the "bath soap" VCDs, sold illegally at Rp 40,000 (US$4) each, are among tens of thousands of pornographic VCDs sold across the capital, the most accessible being in Glodok's Chinatown market, West Jakarta.
On the other hand, smuggling luxury cars into Indonesia is nothing new and a piece of cake for official car importers.
There are scores of ownerless luxury cars currently kept at the Customs and Excise warehouse in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, but nobody has been arrested, at least not in the last five years.
The question is now whether the National Police is serious with its investigation into the smuggling ring which allegedly involves police officers, or is this just a police ploy to get even with Comr. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb.
Embroiled in a legal dispute with National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar over the police's mandatory retirement age, Sofjan had been particularly vocal about bringing Da'i to the Supreme Court for issuing a decree on the retirement of Sofjan and other officers aged 55 years old and over, despite the fact that Police Law No. 2/2002 extends the mandatory retirement age to 58.
Sofjan admitted last week that he had issued temporary vehicle documents for 11 Mercedes Benz cars, allegedly smuggled from Singapore, at the end and after his term as South Sulawesi Police chief last year.
Every provincial police chief is allowed to issue temporary vehicle documents for a maximum of three cars, valid for up to three to six months.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Saleh Saaf said the police, however, needed more evidence to proceed with the investigation.
"This case could involve Customs and Excise members, and other members of the National Police. It's a national ring with international connections like Singapore and Hong Kong," Saleh said.