Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri was criticized on Friday over his vague responses to the existence of key evidence in the case against two Corruption Eradication Commission deputies.

Bambang and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji told legislators last November they were convinced they had been right to charge Bibit Samad Riyanto and Chandra Hamzah over a Rp 5.1 billion ($571,000) payoff from businessman Anggodo Widjojo.

Bambang and Hendarman said they had obtained 64 wiretaps of conversations between an official at the antigraft commission, also known as the KPK, and a suspected middleman for Anggodo, as well as CCTV footage, all of which indicated that Bibit and Chandra did take the bribe.

But since the Anti-Corruption Court last week ordered the National Police to disclose the recordings and footage, both officials have been vague about the existence of the evidence.

Bambang said this week police did have the recordings. "We're still looking for them but they're in our possession," he said. "At the moment we can't respond to the court's demand."

"This is ridiculous and shameful," Hasril Hertanto, a legal analyst from the University of Indonesia, told the Jakarta Globe. "How can a key piece of evidence in a major case being investigated get misplaced? It's possible they're just looking for excuses because they didn't have the recordings to begin with."

Bambang's statement, however, was inconsistent with that of his subordinates. During Anggodo's trial, Comr. Farman, who led the probe into Bibit and Chandra, said police did not have such recordings.

University of Indonesia professor and former police officer Bambang Widodo Umar said that if police failed to present the evidence, the National Police chief should make a public apology.

"The president can't keep quiet about this," he said. "Police Chief Bambang must be punished because the absence of the evidence clearly indicates there's an attempt to undermine the KPK."

Even Anggodo's lawyer, Thomson Situmeang, who requested the court order the National Police to present the evidence, has begun to question its existence.

"The Attorney General's Office and the police should walk the talk and prove they weren't lying," he said. "The case was submitted to the AGO, so the prosecutors should have examined the evidence. If they have the evidence, it shouldn't be too hard for them to disclose it."