Dessy Sagita & Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – Antitobacco activists said on Wednesday that the National Police were lying about three legislators who have been accused of deliberately omitting a clause addressing the dangers of tobacco from the 2009 health bill.
Hakim Sorimuda Pohan, a former Democratic lawmaker and member of Commission IX overseeing health affairs, who now works with the Coalition Against Corruption of the Anti-Tobacco Clause (Kakar), said on Monday that the National Police had told him the three legislators had been named suspect. On Monday, however, Brig. Gen. Saut Usman Nasution, director of transnational crimes at the National Police, denied Hakim's charge, saying the claim was "absolutely wrong."
The three lawmakers in question are Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) member Ribka Tjiptaning Proletariati, chairwoman of House Commission IX, and former Golkar Party legislators Mariani Baramuli and Asiah Salekan.
The health bill was passed by the House of Representatives in September 2009, but was later found to be missing a previously-included clause that identified tobacco as an addictive substance.
While the House committee deliberating the bill played off the omission as a "technical error," critics allege the clause was deliberately struck off to appease the powerful tobacco lobby.
Kakar lawyer David Tobing countered the claims of the police, telling a press conference: "Throughout this legal process, we have regularly received notification letters from the national police's detective unit updating us about the case. Since Aug. 24, the letters have clearly mentioned the three women as suspects."
Tobing showed journalists the letters from the National Police, which indeed mentioned Ribka, Mariani, and Asiah as suspects.
National Police Chief of Detectives Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi, however, rejected the allegations, and said Kakar did not understand how the National Police handled cases.
"If they said that they received a letter from us stating that legislators had been named as suspects, then it could be a typo. I have to check it first," he said, adding that he wanted to see a copy of the letter. "I have never lied to the public. We are professional," he maintained.
He also said that there was no indication that officials from the Ministry of Health were responsible for cutting the clause from the health bill. "Our focus now is on the DPR secretary general. We will summon them in the near future," he said.
Saut had said on Tuesday that two Health Ministry officials were undergoing questioning over the alleged deliberate omission of the clause. The two officials brought in for questioning were Faiq, the ministry's secretary general, and Budi Sampurno, a senior official.
Tulus Abadi, the managing director of the Indonesian Consumer Foundation (YLKI) and a member of Kakar, said that the police's inconsistencies were causing public confusion.
"There might be some political pressure that is causing the police to deny that the three women have been named suspects, because all three of them came from major political parties. But the police should not do that," he said.
David also said that the House Ethics Council should temporarily suspend Ribka from her position as the chairwoman of Commission IX. He also said that she should be detained in police custody.
"I know that it is very unlikely Ribka will try to run away or destroy the evidence, but there is no guarantee that she will not repeat her misconduct, considering she's still holding the strategic position as the chairwoman of the commission," he said.