Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – The head of a police detention facility in Depok has been named a suspect for receiving bribes in return for allowing high-profile graft suspect Gayus Tambunan out of his cell at will, police sources said on Tuesday.

Comr. Iwan Siswanto, who heads the detention facility at Mobile Brigade (Brimob) headquarters in Kelapa Dua, Depok, was named along with eight of his men, police sources told the Jakarta Globe on condition of anonymity.

Although he was supposed to be locked up while on trial for graft and bribery, a man bearing a striking resemblance to Gayus was photographed by the Globe at an international tennis tournament in Bali on Friday.

The police have since looked into the report, which caused a sensation on the Internet and seemed to confirm widespread public suspicions that money and connections can easily buy favors for high-profile criminals.

Iwan and his eight subordinates were named suspects by the National Police's Anticorruption Directorate on Tuesday. "They are suspected of having breached articles 5, 12d, and 13 of the Anti-Corruption Law by receiving cash bribes from Gayus," the source said.

According to the source, Iwan admitted to police detectives that he had been receiving bribes from Gayus since July, citing "economic motives."

"At first, he asked Gayus for Rp 5 million [$560] a week, on top of Rp 50 million a month from July to August, to let him walk out of jail every day. And he only needed to be back in his cell twice a week, on Monday and Wednesday morning, just before his hearings," the source said.

From August onward, the payments were allegedly raised to Rp 3.5 million a week, plus Rp 100 million a month. "This does not include Gayus paying guards between Rp 1 million and Rp 1.5 million week in and week out," the source said, adding that police seized Iwan's cellphone and bank account records as evidence.

Brig. Gen. Untung Ketut Yoga, a deputy spokesman for the National Police, declined to confirm the information but said that an official with the initials "IS," together with eight of his subordinates, were suspended from active duty on Tuesday.

He identified the eight subordinates by their initials and said they were all low-level police inspectors. "For the time being, they are suspected of having breached professional ethics and discipline, and could be charged under the criminal code if this is proven later," he said.

Another source said that Iwan was also suspected of having granted privileges to other high-profile graft suspects, including Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji, a former police chief detective, and Wiliardi Wizar, a former middle-ranking police officer, who were held at the same Brimob detention facilities.

Susno is a suspect in two separate bribery cases, while Wilardi has been convicted of involvement in the killing of an executive of a state-owned enterprise. "Iwan admitted that so far he has gotten Rp 10 million from Susno and Rp 15 million from Wiliardi to let them go out, and that's why Gayus then also asked for the same privilege," the source said.

Susno, speaking to the Globe on the sidelines of his graft trial at the South Jakarta District Court, lashed out at the allegations, calling them "slanderous." "There is no way for me to escape police custody," he said. "The police are already detaining me for slander, so please don't make any more slanderous remarks."

Brig. Gen. Ike Edwin, from the National Police's Anticorruption Directorate, declined to comment on the issue, while his deputy, Chief Comr. Alex Mandalika, said he had no knowledge of the cases.

However, the police deputy chief of detectives, Insp. Gen. Dikdik Mulayana Arief, confirmed the case was being handled by the Anticorruption Directorate. "But it would be better for you to directly ask the investigators," he said.

Untung, the deputy spokesman for the National Police, meanwhile, said Gayus would be questioned by detectives on Tuesday but not over his alleged disappearance from police detention.

Instead, Gayus would be asked about Cirus Sinaga, a state prosecutor accused of leaking sensitive court documents, he said. (With additional reporting by Heru Andriyanto)