Markus Junianto Sihaloho – Activists and NGOs signed a statement on Friday requesting that the president establish a team to investigate an alleged plot by the Attorney General's Office and the National Police to destroy the nation's leading corruption fighting body.
The statement came days after the release of transcripts of wiretapped phone conversations suggesting that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had supporting the alleged plan.
Chairman of Indonesian Corruption Watch, Danang Widoyoko, said the two law enforcement agencies had conspired to arrest Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto, suspended deputies of the KPK.
"We urge the president to immediately establish an independent team tasked with investigating the allegations that high-ranking officials plotted to kill the KPK," Danang said.
He said the police decision to take Chandra and Bibit into custody was premature and had hurt the public's sense of justice.
The suspended commissioners are accused of abuse of power in connection with a corruption investigation into fugitive businessman Anggoro Widjojo.
Danang said that instead of arresting the men with insufficient evidence, the police should have first investigated the transcripts, which is allegedly of Anggoro's brother, Anggodo Widjojo, plotting with officials, including a member of the AGO, to take down the chairmen.
Anggoro was under investigation by the KPK at the time the phone conversations allegedly took place.
Danang, speaking on behalf of the statement's signatories – including journalist, poet Goenawan Muhammad and Suciwati, the widow of murdered human rights campaigner Munir Said Thalib – emphasized that members of the investigative team should be civilians.
"To avoid bias, police officers and AGO officials should not be in the independent team," Danang said.
The activists also criticized Yudhoyono for allowing the police and AGO to criminalize the KPK.
Bambang Widodo Umar, an independent police expert and professor at the University of Indonesia, said the police had no evidence that the suspended commissioners had abused their power, adding that their charges were constantly changing.
Yudhoyono ordered an investigation into the recordings on Wednesday. "The president should not act just because his name was involved in the case," Bambang said. "He should be able to resolve conflict between these two institutions of law enforcement."
Teten Masduki, secretary general for Transparency International Indonesia, also urged Yudhoyono's to intervene on the grounds that it was possible "invisible hands" had forced the police to make the arrests.
"I think strong powers forced the police to arrest the commissioners because the police didn't have a good enough reason to pursue them," Teten said. "In this case, the president must not wash his hands of the matter. He must solve the problem," he said.
Meanwhile, Bambang Widjojanto, Chandra's and Bibit's lawyer, said his legal team was planning to file a pre-trial motion against the police decision to arrest his clients. "We've formed a special taskforce to prepare the brief," he said.
Chandra and Bibit were declared suspects last month and are currently under police custody in Depok, West Java.