Anthony Deutsch, Jakarta – Public calls mounted Monday for Indonesia's president to defend the top corruption-fighting body in what is seen as a major test of his commitment to democratic reforms as he begins a second term in office.
Anti-graft campaigners say bogus charges were filed by police in the arrests of two deputies at the Corruption Eradication Commission last week to undercut its powers. The agency's head was suspended months ago and put on trial for murder.
The case has fueled opposition to the police and poses a serious challenge for the newly installed government of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who was sworn in last month for another five-year term in the Muslim-majority nation of 235 million.
"This is the time for SBY to prove his word," said Rezki Wibowo, deputy executive director of the Indonesian branch of Transparency International, an anti-graft watchdog, using the president's initials. This is a "systematic attempt to undermine the fight against corruption in Indonesia."
Newspaper editorials on Monday demanded the resignations of key members of the police force and Attorney General's office, whose phone conversations were wiretapped and broadcast on national television and who allegedly invented charges against the commissioners.
In a sign of public anger, more than 350,000 people joined a Facebook page in support of deputies Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Riyanto. Thousands more were signing up every hour and plans were under way for large demonstrations.
The deputies face charges of abuse of power for improperly issuing a travel ban against a corruption suspect, but deny the allegations. Deputy intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Dikdik Mulyana said they were also detained for hampering investigations by talking to the media.
In an effort to soothe the swelling outrage, a member of Yudhoyono's Cabinet met with university heads and anti-corruption groups Monday to address demands for an independent inquiry into the matter.
The case has exposed a bitter rivalry between the police and Attorney General's office and the independent anti-corruption agency, known by its Indonesian acronym KPK. The KPK has the authority to investigate corruption at all law enforcement bodies and has made powerful enemies.
The leaked wiretap conversations prove that high-ranking members of the police and Attorney General's office "engineered" fake accusations against the commissioners, the Jakarta-based daily Koran Tempo newspaper wrote in a Monday editorial.
The paper said the officials – chief of police investigations, Susno Duadji, and Deputy Attorney Generals Wisnu Subroto and Abdullah Hakim Ritonga – should be dismissed. The three have not denied that the conversations took place, but said they did nothing wrong.
Yudhoyono, a 60-year-old former general, has been widely credited for the success of the anti-corruption campaign during his first term in office. Scores of corrupt politicians, entrepreneurs and law enforcement officials were tried and convicted, including the father-in-law of one of the president's sons.
On Monday, several hundred protesters gathered outside the downtown headquarters of the KPK and in other cities on the main island of Java to call on Yudhoyono to intervene. National Awakening Party deputy head Nursyahbani Katjasungkana warned the arrests could fuel "public hatred of the police," already considered the most corrupt law enforcement organ.
"People think there were irregularities in the arrests," she said. "Most people reject the police's handling of the case... We call on SBY to intervene."