Ina Parlina, Jakarta – Former National Police detective chief Susno Duadji should receive leniency in his graft trial, as he provided leads to unravel a case broker ring operating at the National Police, observers say.
Febri Diansyah from Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) urged judges and prosecutors to consider the fact that Susno was a whistle-blower when handing down a decision.
"The judges must see this case – including his sentence – in a larger context. The case was built when he blew the whistle on the judicial and tax office mafia," Febri told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
He pointed out that law enforcement institutions had begun probing other actors implicated by Susno.
Susno first came under the spotlight when making controversial statements about the police following his dismissal from his post in 2009 for his alleged role in a case broker scandal involving businessman Anggodo Widjojo.
He later accused several high-ranking police officers of receiving bribes from graft suspects, including two police generals, Brig. Gen. Edmon Ilyas and Brig. Gen. Raja Erizman.
Susno requested protection from the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) last year after he identified the top officials.
On Monday, prosecutors said Susno violated the anticorruption law by pocketing a Rp 500 million (US$555,000) bribe from attorney Haposan Hutagalung in an investigation into allegations of fraud in the Arwana fish farm case to favor Haposan's client, Singaporean national Ho Kian Kuat.
Prosecutors said Susno received the bribe through close associate Sjahril Djohan, recently identified to the public as a case broker at National Police headquarters without an official position.
Prosecutors also claim Susno violated the same law by ordering his subordinate to remove Rp 8.5 billion from a Rp 27.7 billion state budget allocation earmarked for security measures for the 2008 West Java gubernatorial elections.
Lili Pintauli Siregar from the LPSK said that under the 2006 Witness and Victim Protection Law, Susno received protection until May and the agency would review whether it would extend protection.
"If his information leads to the uncovering of more cases, we could extend the protection," she said, adding that his protection had been extended several times. She added that Susno had never received threats while under the protection of the agency.
Susno's statements triggered the investigation into the high-profile tax scam of former tax official Gayus H. Tambunan.
The Judicial Mafia Taskforce announced Tuesday that the police ethics commission had begun investigations into Raja and Edmon, who allegedly played a role in the scam.