Antara & Nivell Rayda – Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono does not want to cut off probes into the the controversies surrounding Bank Century and suspended antigraft officers Chandra M Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto, said his new special adviser for political communications, Daniel Sparingga on Saturday.
"The President wants the cases of Bibit-Chandra and Bank Century to be investigated further because he really does not have anything to hide," Daniel said.
Sparingga, who is also a sociologist at state University of Airlangga in Surabaya, East Java, officially became the president's special adviser on Friday. He said the President would outline his position on the two cases known on Monday.
"Later, he will present his plan to build transparent and accountable state management. He will present an action plan on organizational management of the police, the attorney general's office and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK)," he said.
Activists continued protests over the weekend in support of the KPK, which has clashed with the National Police and Attorney General's Office in two high-profile criminal cases. Both the Bibit and Chandra case and that of former KPK chief Antasari Azhar have been tainted by allegations of an anti-KPK conspiracy involving police and prosecutors.
A dozen artists came to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in on Sunday morning to express their concerns on canvas. "Musicians and poets had already done their bit," said organizer Luqman Hakim. "We felt we had to do something to show that we care about indonesia's drive against corruption."
Many of the artworks played on the popular depiction of police and prosecutors as "crocodiles" and graft fighters as plucky little geckoes. That image comes from National Police chief detective Susno Duadji, who told Tempo magazine in July that the KPK taking on the police was like a gecko picking a fight with a crocodile.
One work by amateur artist Heri Hito depicted Anggodo Widjojo, a businessman believed to be at the center of the alleged plot to undermine the KPK, as a sinister monkey riding a crocodile while slipping money into the crocodile's pocket.
Another artist, Agam, depicted the gecko as the victor, squashing a black crocodile with the help of workers and farmers. "This is what I believe will happen," agam said. "The people cannot be lied to. Sooner or later the truth will be exposed and justice will be served."