Why should the police lie?

Why should the police lie?

The sloppy arrest of Islamic terrorist suspects by the police
won't help the country deal with terrorism. Instead, it will be
counterproductive.

During the past year the police have been vigorously showing
to the people how dangerous the terror threat is from Jamaah
Islamiyah (JI). They have also demonstrated their seriousness in
dealing with the threat. However, the fact is that the police are
not that serious and they tend to lie to the public.

The police announced they have arrested 15 (Islamic) activists
in Surakarta, Semarang (Central Java), Jakarta and Lampung
(southern Sumatra) over bomb blasts, including the JW Marriott
bombing.

National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar defended the arrests,
saying that they were in-line with the new antiterrorism law. The
law allows the police to arrest terrorist suspects for not more
than one week based on preliminary evidence gathered by the
intelligence agents and the court. This means that the arrests
must be acknowledged by the court - through a warrant letter. The
facts show that Da'i Bachtiar has lied to the public.

We know that material evidence that was collected through
illegal procedures cannot be used in court, meaning that what the
police have done is nothing. The police must be aware of their
actions, but why have they done that? Why should Da'i lie?

If such malpractice by the police continues, what we are doing
is not eradicating terrorism. The police move is apparently
triggering suspicion that antiterror campaigns are identical to
antiIslam campaigns. This could trigger unnecessary radicalism
and inter-religious tension.

-- Koran Tempo, Jakarta