President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should follow up on the anti-corruption statements in his inauguration speech by firmly backing Indonesia's Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), said the head of Indonesian Corruption Watch on Tuesday.

"Yudhoyono said he wanted to eradicate corruption, but his silence in the KPK's rift with the police rift seems to be a signal that he supports police weakening the commission," said Danang Widoyoko.

Former KPK chief Antasari Azhar is on trial for murder, and two of his deputies are being investigated for abuse of power, in what some see as an effort by the National Police to muzzle the powerful antigraft body.

Yudhoyono has voiced support for the KPK. But he has also reportedly called it a "superbody" whose "power must not go unchecked."

In September, presidential adviser Denny Indrayana said SBY would stay out of the KPK-National Police fight. "Justice is linked to evidence and the president will not enter that territory," Denny said at the time.

Danang said he hoped the president would be clear and unconditional in his support for the embattled commission as he launched his second term in office.

"In 2004, he could say practically anything regarding the subject because we had just started, but now we don't know what his policy will be," said Danang. "I hope it would not translate to the point that it is all right for KPK to arrest corruptors but 'let's not get carried away' or 'don't arrest all of them'."