Farouk Arnaz, Ismira Lutfia & Zaky Pawas – As the police came up empty-handed on Friday in their probe into recent attack on the editorial office of Tempo magazine and an antigraft activist, investigators were accused of intimidating Tempo witnesses and leading them to say the attack was because of an internal rift.

At a press conference on Friday, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang acknowledged that the police had failed to arrest the attackers of an Indonesia Corruption Watch activist this week, as they had promised on Monday.

"God willing, we will arrest the perpetrators in the near future," he said. "We are working really hard to uncover this case because it has a lot of impact on democracy and press freedom."

ICW researcher Tama Satya Langkun was attacked in the early hours of Thursday by four unidentified men.

Tama, who had been investigating suspicious bank accounts linked to several high-ranking police officers, suffered serious injuries in the brutal assault. The attack came just days after Molotov cocktails were thrown at the office of Tempo, a weekly magazine that also reported on the suspicious bank accounts.

Edward said that police had already found important information related to Tama's case, but declined to go into detail. "I don't want to disturb the investigation by sharing the information."

He promised that police would inform the public as soon as they made an arrest. "We also want to know the motive. So far there is no indication that Tama's assault and the firebombing of the Tempo magazine office were related," he claimed.

Separately, Darwin Aritonang, a lawyer for Tempo, said four witnesses – two security guards, a technician and a telephone operator all working for the magazine – claimed to have been intimidated during their questioning at the Central Jakarta Police headquarters that began Wednesday morning and lasted until Thursday morning.

He said that based on his clients' account, the investigators' questions were pointless and confusing and caused frustration.

"The pressure they felt during the questioning stressed them out, so they couldn't answer the questions properly and they felt like they were led to say only the things the police wanted them to say," Darwin said, adding that one of the witnesses told him he felt intimidated because he had also been receiving anonymous phone calls and had seen a stranger staking out his house.

"They were led to say that the Molotov attack had something to do with an internal rift at Tempo," he added. "I regret that they had go through that ordeal. After all, they are also victims."

Usman Hamid, a coordinator from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said he was aware that an idea to link the Tempo office attack to an internal rift at the magazine had been floating.

"But I doubt it. Even if [the rift exists], police will have to be able to present very solid evidence to support it, especially if the case goes to trial," Usman said.

In response, Central Jakarta Police Chief Sr. Comr. Hamidin dared the accusers to show proof that intimidation took place. "We always record the questioning of witnesses," he said.

Meanwhile, another ICW activist, Adnan Topan Husodo, said he was planning to file a complaint with the police after his car window was smashed at around 9 p.m. on Thursday.

Adnan, the deputy coordinator of the antigraft NGO, said the windshield of his Daihatsu Xenia was broken while parked at the Attorney General's Office residential complex in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta.

"My bag with books and a laptop charger were stolen," he said, adding that five other cars were parked in the area, but only his was broken into.

Adnan also pointed out that other items such as his cell phone and wristwatch were not taken from the car. But he said he did not want to speculate on whether the incident was more than a simple burglary. "I hope it's not related to Tama's case," he said.