Bagus BT Saragih and Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – The National Police dismissed a top officer implicated in case tampering from his post on Friday, but continue to retain another, a move critics say is good but not enough.
Brig. Gen. Edmond Ilyas was removed from his post as Lampung Police chief and transferred to National Police headquarters to a "dead-end" post.
Edmond was one of the generals implicated by former chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji in the money laundering and tax evasion case of tax official Gayus Tambunan.
Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman, who was also implicated in the case, retained his post as special financial crimes director.
National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri announced the dismissal, saying the move was aimed at smoothing out an internal affairs investigation into the alleged case broker ring.
He added that officers implicated could not effectively carry out their duties, so had to be suspended.
"We need to make the necessary changes or we will be severely hampered," Bambang said. Critics, however, said the move was not enough. They called on the police to thoroughly investigate all allegations of case brokering.
Gadjah Mada University legal expert Zainal Arifin Muchtar told The Jakarta Post that the dismissals were necessary but would not appease the public.
"Dismissals won't be enough if we want to get to the bottom of this case. These players are only the tip of the iceberg," Zainal, who also heads the Center for Anticorruption Studies (Pukat), said.
Apart from Edmond, Sr. Comr. Pambudi Pamungkas and Sr. Comr. Eko Budi Sampurno have also been suspended from their posts and transferred to redundant desk jobs.
Pambudi and Eko are former subordinates of Edmond when the latter served as the director of financial crimes at the National Detective Agency (Bareskrim) before heading Lampung Police. The officers are suspected of covering up the Rp 28 billion (US$3.08 million) Gayus tax evasion case.
Zainal said that there were more officers who should be dismissed. "For example, why is Raja still in his post?" he said.
Raja replaced Edmond as financial crimes director when Edmond moved to Lampung. The division handled Gayus' graft case.
Susno said that detectives at the division tampered with the investigation and hinted that they received bribes to free Gayus. "A lot of key figures have been implicated by Gayus and Susno. The police should be following up on this immediately," he said.
Zainal added that there might be many other culprits involved in similar criminal networks. "This case should be handled properly, as it will be the key to uncovering other cases," he said.
Susno has implied the presence of case brokers close to the National Police chief, saying "his room is at National Police headquarters, close to the chief's room". The National Police has refused to comment on Susno's claims.
To date, police have named six people suspects in the graft case: Gayus, Gayus' lawyer Haposan Hutagalung, Lambertus, businessman Andi Kosasih, detective Comr. Arafat, and detective Adj. Comr. Sri Sumartini. All six are being held at the National Police jail.