Markus Junianto Sihaloho – In their first counterattack since being released from police detention in the wake of widespread public pressure, two antigraft commissioners on Friday refuted accusations by National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri that they had accepted bribes from two middlemen.
Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto, suspended deputies of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), denied having ever received a bribe from Ary Muladi or Edi Sumarsono, as Hendarso had claimed during a late-night hearing with the House of Representatives the previous day. Hendarso had said the bribe came from a businessman investigated by the KPK over a graft case, and was delivered through Ary, Edi or another party.
"Not just from Ary Muladi, I have never received a bribe from anyone," Chandra said. "The only money I receive is from the government. My income only comes from the government."
"I have never received money, directly or indirectly, from Ary Muladi... or from anyone named for involvement in Anggoro's case," Bibit said, referring to Anggoro Widjojo, the subject of a graft investigation.
Hendarso, on Thursday, told lawmakers that police had evidence that two suspected middlemen, Ary and Edi, had visited the KPK's office in South Jakarta several times to meet with KPK commissioners. Bibit, however, dismissed the statement as "a big lie."
Chandra, his lawyer Alexander Lay said, had a strong alibi and had not, as Hendarso alleged, met Ary in a South Jakarta shopping mall. However, he said he would only unveil the alibi in court for fear that the police would use the information to seek other ways to implicate his client.
Alexander dismissed Hendarso's claim in the House that former Forestry Minister MS Kaban had received Rp 17 billion ($1.8 million) from Anggoro and that with the help of Chandra, whom he knew, had persuaded the KPK to drop the case against Anggoro's company, PT Masaro Radiokom.
Kaban has also issued a denial of the allegation. "In his effort to convince House members, the police chief used invalid information, which can be said to be just gossip," Alexander said.
Meanwhile, a presidentially-appointed fact-finding team tasked to look into the case involving Chandra and Bibit, on Friday questioned Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, former KPK Chairman Antasari Azhar and the National Police's chief of detectives, Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji.
Hendarso announced on Thursday that Susno had tendered his "temporary resignation" in response to intense public pressure to step down after his name was mentioned several times in wiretapped telephone conversations that indicated attempts to fabricate a case against the two commissioners. His status, however, is still unclear.
The recordings, played at the Constitutional Court on Tuesday, revealed an apparent plot to oust the two KPK deputy chairmen by naming them as suspects for abuse of power and extortion.
National Police investigators on Friday collected copies of recordings of 67 telephone conversations from the KPK office. They contain conversations involving Anggoro's brother, Anggodo, and several other people, including officials from the National Police and the Attorney General's Office, allegedly plotting against Chandra and Bibit.
The National Police's deputy spokesman, Brig. Gen. Sulistyo Ishak, said the police were in the process of verifying the authenticity of the recordings.
Sulistyo also said that Anggodo was still being questioned but that police did not yet have sufficient evidence to name him as a suspect. "We understand this has become a source of concern among the people, we also feel it. But we have to be careful," he said.
Anggodo, however, left National Police headquarters, where he was being questioned, at around 3 p.m. accompanied by his lawyer, Bonaran Situmeang. The lawyer said his client was showing "symptoms of a heart problem."