Andi Hajramurni, Makassar – When it comes to public complaints, it is the police force that most people complain about to the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force, a seminar has revealed.
As of Oct. 4, public complaints related to the police as an institution have reached 1,309 cases.
The matter was disclosed at a national seminar on the prevention and eradication of the judicial mafia in an effective manner in South Sulawesi, organized by the task force in Makassar on Thursday.
Based on task force data, the institution with the second-highest number of complaints is the judiciary with 1,236 complaints, followed by the prosecutor's office (694), provincial administrations and legislative councils (436) and the National Land Agency (252).
Land issues account for the highest number of complaints, amounting to 1,034 cases, followed by corruption and nepotism (682), fraud (448) and extortion, abuse of power and illegal fee collection (265).
However, not all of the complaints have been followed up due to lack of evidence. "From January until Oct. 4, the task force received 4,815 complaints. Of these, 4,271 have been examined and 130 of them followed up," said task force member Insp. Gen. Herman Efendi, a police officer.
He added that based on region, the highest number of complaints came from Jakarta with 840 complaints, followed by East Java with 489, West Sumatra (450). South Sulawesi ranked sixth with 162 complaints.
Deputy Attorney General Darmono, who is also a task force member, deemed that the number of complaints from South Sulawesi indicated that the province was quite vulnerable, but added that the number of complaints depended on the size and population of an area.
South Sulawesi was once a focus of attention due to many graft defendants being acquitted in court. One judge with a high record of handing down acquittals was Syarifuddin. During his tenure at the Makassar District Court, he acquitted at least 38 defendants involved in seven graft cases.
In response to the huge number of complaints directed at the police, South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Johny Wainal Usman said it was nothing out of the ordinary because the complaints were filed by members of the public who were likely dissatisfied with the implementation of a law.
"They're just complaints and not necessarily true. The complaints from members of the public may likely be due to disappointment with a legal decision or law enforcement. Aren't the police one of the law enforcement institutions?" he said.
Despite that, Johny added that the police would continue to pay attention to the complaints and continue to oversee police personnel so as to prevent judicial mafia practices. "We will take stern action against any officers found to be involved in judicial mafia practices," he said.