Nivell Rayda – Indonesia's Witness and Victim Protection Agency is the latest law enforcement agency to be dragged into the Corruption Eradication Commission saga, with a tape recording played at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday appearing to incriminate an agency official.
The antigraft commission, also known as the KPK, played 67 separate wiretapped telephone conversations recorded between July and August 2009, including four between Anggodo Widjaja and I Ketut Sudiharsa, deputy chairman of the witness protection agency, also known as the LPSK.
During the conversation, Anggodo sought the help of the LPSK to protect his brother, fugitive businessman Anggoro Widjaja, from the KPK. Abdul Haris Semendawai, LPSK chairman, said his agency would immediately launch an internal investigation into the allegations of impropriety.
"We will also summon Ktut and demand an explanation to decide if his actions have followed the proper procedures," he said. "If there is a breach of our code of conduct, we could impose administrative sanctions against him."
Anggoro is wanted by the KPK in relation to a bribery case in 2007, but has also come into the spotlight in the recent dispute between the commission and the National Police after he alleged that he had bribed KPK officials.
In the recordings, Ketut allegedly told Anggodo that he could ensure protection for his brother. An all-expenses paid trip to Singapore for Ktut and another LPSK commissioner, Myra Diarsi, to see Anggoro was also allegedly solicited from Anggodo.
Contacted by the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday, Ktut acknowledged that it was indeed his voice in the recording but maintained that the conversations were above board.
"Anggodo filed an application on his brother's behalf to be protected by the LPSK," Ketut said. "I was merely asking him to fill in all the necessary documents, especially documents from police investigators, who had already classified Anggoro as a key witness."
When asked about his trip to Singapore to see Anggoro, Ketut said that the trip never happened. "I was just being polite to Anggodo, that's why I said I would go to Singapore at his expense," he said. "I never received anything from Anggodo."
Topo Santoso, a legal analyst from the University of Indonesia said the recording could tarnish the credibility of the newly established agency.
"Part of the reason why the LPSK was established was to help the KPK in eradicating corruption by protecting whistle-blowers," he said. "The credibility of the LPSK will be hanging by a thread unless internal action is taken."
Another revelation from the recordings was Anggodo's repeated contact with a businesswoman named Yuliana Gunawan, who once spent two and a half years in prison for drug-related offenses.
Affectionately calling Gunawan, "my dear," Anggodo allegedly asked her to introduce him to former deputy attorney general for general crimes, Abdul Hakim Ritonga, who would handle the alleged corruption inside the KPK.
The recordings suggest Anggodo wanted to coordinate his testimony with Ritonga to ensure he would not be charged for attempting to bribe KPK officials.
"I have contacted Ritonga. Tomorrow he will be in Depok. Just tell him the truth, otherwise it's our ass because SBY is already behind us. Understand?" Gunawan said in the recording, referring to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono by his initials.
Anggodo, the recordings suggest, also coordinated with a police investigator named Parman.