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