Police have declared Nazriel "Ariel" Ilham, the front man of the popular Peterpan band, a suspect in a pornography case, and his two alleged sex partners in sex videos will very likely soon follow Ariel into police detention.
For his supporters, this action is strong evidence that National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri is responsive and proactive in detecting and accommodating public aspirations and unrest.
The general is also excellent in entertaining the demands of people who want this country to adopt the highest standards of morality. Bambang is also active in upholding the law and without doubt has defied public outcries questioning the urgency and relevance of such actions.
Bambang clearly pleased people who wanted harsh punishments for any acts of adultery or sex among Indonesian citizens who were not legally bound in marriage. This would explain why now police in other parts of the country have been active in raiding hotels chasing lovers committing immoral acts.
Perhaps this is also why President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has utmost trust in the general who will soon enter retirement age. Yudhoyono is apparently so satisfied with the police performance under Bambang's leadership that he has never taken action against him, no matter how furious the public was with many of the police's actions and policies.
But critical questions also arise: Why were the police so quick to arrest Ariel and in handling petty crimes when they are so extremely slow – if indeed any action is taken at all – in bringing mega-corruption cases to justice?
A brief search on Google will produce countless multi-million dollar Indonesian corruption cases or gross human rights abuses that have remain unresolved.
The following are a few examples: The National Police confirmed it had found a police general holding Rp 95 billion but insisted the general got the money from a legal business.
In another case, a national newspaper recently published a list of 17 cases involving trillions of rupiah, including the alleged abuses of one bank account at Bank Indonesia and a banking crime. None of the cases has ever gone to court.
For those who think Ariel's alleged sex acts have humiliated Indonesia as a pious nation, the police decision to arrest him – and likely Luna Maya and Cut Tari too – is very laudable, and General Bambang deserves praise.
But like the police, the very same people who want to punish any acts of sexual deceit or small gambling also seem to be blind and deaf to the fact that cases of gross corruption and abuse of power are doing far more damage to public welfare. As if a sex "crime" is more dangerous than corruptors who have stolen trillions of rupiah from the state coffers or who ruin the lives of innocent people in the name of "national interests".
The arrest and detention of Ariel shows that many people and state officials of this nation only care about "crimes" and "violations" that do not affect them directly. If they were caught red-handed having "illegal sex" they could easily use a religious pretext to cover up their deeds.
Meanwhile many corruptors and power abusers remain untouchable because the laws are in their hands.
How should we respond when the international community laughs at our nation that for decades has remained on the list of the world's most corrupt?