Ina Parlina, Jakarta – The Central Information Commission (KIP) ordered the National Police on Tuesday to disclose deposit information for 17 bank accounts held by high-ranking police officers.
KIP issued the order during an adjudication hearing between the police and the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), which requested the hearing after the police declined a request to the disclose results of its internal probe of the accounts.
The probe was initiated following allegations made by the ICW that police generals suspiciously obtained billions of rupiah in their bank accounts.
"We order [the police] to disclose the amount of money deposited in the banks; only the figures and dates, without the names of their owners," said KIP chairman Ahmad Alamsyah Saragih, who also led the panel.
He told the police that failure to comply with the order would only hurt them. "If you refuse to comply, it will be a consideration in our final decision."
The National Police's top money laundering official, Sr. Comr. Agung Setiadi, said that it would be difficult to collect the information and feared that the wrong data might be disclosed.
In July, the National Police's then spokesperson, Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang, said allegations of impropriety surrounding 17 of the 23 suspicious bank accounts reported by the Financial Transaction Analysis and Report Centre (PPATK) had been resolved.
The police declined to give more information on the 17 accounts or the 6 accounts not yet cleared.
The ICW asked the police for data on the bank accounts on Aug. 2, but two days later the police rejected the request, saying that the law on money laundering prevented them from disclosing personal information about individual bank accounts.
The 2008 Freedom of Information Law, which came into effect on April 30, stipulates that bank account data is not confidential if it concerns state officials.
Saragih said that if the police's statement that the funds in the 17 accounts were "normal and legally obtained" was true then the police must disclose the information requested.
Brig. Gen. Iza Fadri said the police could not disclose the information as the investigation into the scandal had not yet been settled, apparently contradicting Edward's statement.
"In the terms of the law, the investigation is still going on without a formal decision to stop the case. At some point there is the possibility of finding new evidence," he said, adding that disclosures now might hamper the police's investigation.
Five expert witnesses testified before the panel's third hearing on Tuesday: Andreas Hugo Pareira, one of the legislators who deliberated the Freedom of Information Law, and criminologist Adrianus Meliala were summoned by the ICW; Yenti Gunarsih testified for the National Police; and former legislator Dedi Jamaluddin Malik and PPATK member Muhammad Novian testified for the KIP.
KIP is expected to announce its ruling on Feb. 8. The ruling of an adjudication hearing is final with no chance appeal. Those refusing to obey KIP's may be punished with up to three years' imprisonment and up to Rp 20 million (US$2,220) in fines.