Tatang Guritno, Jakarta – Greenpeace Indonesia forestry campaign spokesperson Asep Komaruddin admits to feeling shocked after finding out that the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has reported them to police.
On Monday July 19, KPK acting spokesperson Ali Fikri said that the anti-corruption agency had reported Greenpeace to the South Jakarta district police over a laser painting action at the KPK's red and white building on June 28.
"We've only just received news from journalist acquaintances and we don't yet know if we've [actually] been reported, and we haven't yet received any kind of notification", said Komaruddin when sought for confirmation by Kompas.com on Monday July 20.
Komaruddin said that they feel confused about the report because the KPK had previously appeared to express its appreciation over the laser painting action.
"It's a bit odd because before, after our action, right, there was a statement by KPK acting spokesperson Ali Fikri whose response was one of appreciation because it was seen as support for the eradication of corruption", he explained.
As has been reported, the words "Brave, Honest, Sacked!" (Berani Jujur, Pecat!) appeared on the KPK building in South Jakarta on June 28.
The message was a laser painting by Greenpeace Indonesia activists in response to 51 KPK employees being declared to have failed a civics or nationalism test (TWK) as part of the process of transforming them into civil servants.
Fikri explained that the reason they reported Greenpeace to police was because the laser painting action was done intentionally to disturb discipline and comfort at the anti-graft agency.
In addition to this, Fikri said that this should not have been done because the KPK building is a vital national object.
Fikri also said that the laser painting was not based on a permit from the appropriate authorities.
Notes
The so-call civics test or nationalism test (TWK) is part of the administrative process of transforming all KPK employees into civil servants as mandated by the 2019 revisions to the KPK law. According to KPK Chairperson Firli Bahuri, the test aimed to ensure employees' allegiance to state ideology Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution and the legitimate government, and to ensure that no KPK employees belong to any government banned organisations. The test involved various intelligence agencies, the National Civil Administrative Agency, the Army and the National Counter-Terrorism Agency. It is widely believed that the test was used by the KPK leadership to rid itself of employees who have been most outspoken over the weakening of the KPK and who oppose Bahuri's leadership.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Greenpeace Indonesia Heran Dilaporkan KPK ke Polisi gara-gara Tembakan Laser".]