Arientha Primanita – A legislative watchdog on Thursday urged the City Council to be more open and transparent over the alleged bribes received by some of its members investigating the April riot in Tanjung Priok.
Roy Salam, a researcher at the Indonesia Budget Center, said the Council's chiefs appeared to be trying to cover up the case. "They should be open and transparent about the issue," he said.
Roy said the scandal would only worsen the Council's image, especially since its performance in its first year of office had been underwhelming. He said if the Council went on the defensive about the bribery claims, the public would suspect that something untoward had occurred.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Wednesday accused 10 councilors responsible for a fact-finding report on the bloody Tanjung Priok riot in Koja, North Jakarta, which resulted in the deaths of three public order officers, of taking bribes to suppress a follow-up inquiry.
The KPK alleges the councilors took Rp 10 million ($1,100) each from the city administration to cover up the case. Summonses have been issued for the 10 accused councilors.
The violence between public order officers and residents of Koja came about because locals believed that the authorities planned to demolish the tomb of a revered Muslim missionary on land disputed by port operator PT Pelindo II and the cleric's heirs.
The city has insisted officers were only dispatched to remove structures surrounding the burial site and not the tomb itself. More than 200 people were injured in the incident.
Council Speaker Ferrial Sofyan said he had no knowledge of the KPK summonses and that the Tanjung Priok investigation was the express responsibility of the fact-finding team, which consisted of nine members of each political faction in the Council.
Sayogo Hendrosubroto, a deputy speaker of the Council and head of the fact-finding team, told the Jakarta Globe that he also had not heard about the KPK summonses or of any bribery related to the team's report.
Yusriah Dzinnun, a member of the fact-finding team from the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said she knew nothing about the bribery allegations.
"The team worked hard and we did not receive anything other than what we deserved," she said, adding that she would not accept Rp 10 million if it would only cause her trouble.
Yusriah said that she had not yet received any correspondence from the KPK, although she had heard that other members had been sent letters.
Another member of the fact-finding team who declined to be named said he had received a letter from the KPK, but insisted it was not a summons.
"It is only a form for city councilors – not for the fact-finding team only – that we have to fill out about whether or not we have received any money," he said.
The councilor denied that he or his fellow team members had received any bribes. "The team worked hard to investigate the incident," he said, "and the final recommendations were not only the team's responsibility, but were made by all the city councilors."
The fact-finding team, the councilor said, had only gathered the information on the incident while the council had produced the recommendations. Even though the recommendations were not as tough as had been expected, he said he had also approved them.