Police's choice of investigation questioned

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.