Nivell Rayda & Nurfika Osman – The Witness and Victim Protection Agency on Monday said it would protect whistle-blower Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, but the National Police said this would not affect the case against the detained former chief of detectives.
Abdul Haris Semendawai, chairman of the agency, known as the LPSK, said it had agreed to grant Susno's request for protection. "We have conducted an investigation and concluded that Susno qualifies for our protection as a witness," Semendawai said, adding that the protection also extends to Susno's family.
He said that once Susno agreed, the LPSK would contact the National Police to transfer him from a police detention center in Depok into LPSK custody.
Susno's lawyer, Henry Yosodiningrat, said that Susno's removal from his detention center and into an LPSK facility could not come soon enough.
"There have been death threats made against Susno. And he is currently being held inside a police headquarters. We feel that this [transfer] is the best thing for his safety," Henry said.
The National Police say Susno took Rp 500 million ($55,000) in bribes from lawyer Haposan Hutagalung. They allege the bribes were paid through case broker Sjahril Djohan in return for favors for a Singaporean businessman embroiled in a dispute over an arowana fish farm in Riau with his local partner.
But Susno's lawyers contend that the charges are trumped up retaliatory attacks on a man who put himself in danger by pointing the finger at his fellow officers.
Susno claims that several senior officers took bribes from former tax official Gayus Tambunan in return for them building a weaker corruption case against him. The resulting fallout left one general removed from his post and several investigators put under investigation for graft.
Bambang Widjoyanto, a legal analyst at Trisakti University in Jakarta, said that while Susno would be physically safe under the protection of the LPSK, Indonesia did not give deals to people who plea bargain or turn state's witness.
"The law on the protection of victims and witnesses states that cooperating with law enforcers does not erase one's crime," he said. "The only thing Susno could hope for is leniency from the court."
Mas Achmad Santosa, a member of the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force, said the law needed to be revised if the country truly wanted to deal with endemic corruption.
"Whistle-blowers need to be protected from prosecution," Santosa told the Jakarta Globe. "There are not many effective ways to unravel these cases, and a successful investigation often relies on insiders who know first- hand about acts of corruption. Whistle-blowers are often the perpetrators themselves."
Susno has been pressing for a pretrial motion challenging his arrest. The South Jakarta District Court on Monday began hearing the motion and the National Police are scheduled to present their arguments when the hearing resumes today.
A National Police source last week told the Globe that a probe could be in the offing following indications from the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) that Rp 3.8 billion in possible bribe money had flowed into Susno's accounts.
A copy of a confidential PPATK report obtained by the Globe said: "Financial transfers from Johnny Situwanda, [a businessman] and Iskandar ZM to Susno's accounts should be investigated on suspicion they may be linked to the latter's position as chief of detectives."
According to the report, Johnny, Susno's former lawyer, transferred Rp 1.5 billion to Susno's BCA account and Rp 1.1 billion to his Bank Mandiri account in March 2009.
Police on Monday summoned Johnny to testify for the second time but his lawyer said his client would not make an appearance because he was in Singapore.