Kinanti Pinta Karana & Cameron Bates, Jakarta – Calls are mounting for Indonesian National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri to take responsibility and apologize for repeated allegations by the police that they were in possession of key evidence confirming graft within the Corruption Eradication Commission.
Bambang Widodo Umar, a legal expert, said Bambang must take the blame for the fiasco, after police claimed repeatedly to have in their possession recordings of telephone conversations that proved corruption among senior members of the commission, also known as the KPK.
The "evidence" was alleged to have been recorded during the height of an alleged conspiracy involving elements of National Police to bring down the respected KPK after it uncovered details of alleged corruption involving a senior police officer.
"If the recordings never existed, the National Police Chief must be morally responsible," Umar said. "In Indonesia, to resign as a sign of responsibility is not a part of our culture but at the very least he can apologize to the public and sanction his staff who gave him the false reports."
Police on Wednesday made a clumsy effort to backtrack on claims they were in possession of the recordings, saying the recordings were "call data records" indicating telephone calls between KPK commissioner Ade Raharja and Ary Muladi, a suspected case broker.
Neta S Pane, chairman of Indonesian Police Watch, told the Jakarta Globe that the KPK must form a special team to investigate who lied to whom.
"It is mandatory for the KPK to investigate who had lied, the Attorney General or the police? Indonesian Police Watch hopes the KPK begins an investigation to find out the truth," Neta said, adding that the KPK could press charges against whoever had lied about the existence of the recordings. "There is a sanction for state officials who commit public lies," he said.
KPK spokesman Johan Budi said the KPK did not have the power to investigate though individual commissioners could sue for defamation.
House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Pramono Anung, meanwhile, demanded that House Commission III for law and legislation summon Bambang and Attorney General Hendarman Supandji to clarify what had happened.
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 KPK and a suspected middleman for Anggodo, as well as CCTV footage, all of which indicated that Bibit and Chandra did take the bribe.