Farouk Arnaz & Heru Andriyanto – Criticism of the recently formed judicial mafia eradication task force increased on Wednesday, even as the National Police pledged firm action against any of the 33 provincial police chiefs across the nation if legal case brokers are ever discovered loitering about the compounds of any police precinct.

"Zero tolerance for mafia brokers loitering about in any police compound. I demand this. If it continues, [the responsibility] will fall on the shoulders of the chief of the police precinct," National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said at a gathering on Wednesday, attended by police chiefs and members of the judicial mafia eradication task force.

The task force, headed by Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, was recently set up to curb practices of the judicial mafia, a term referring to legal case brokers who have worked to effectively choke the country's legal system.

Bambang said on Wednesday that eradicating the practices of the judicial mafia was not easy, even though he had instituted security measures to stamp them out, including the formation of a new monitoring team to supervise the work of detectives.

"We have increased the effectiveness of the internal affairs division and basically have CCTV cameras in every investigation room. Even if these brokers end up meeting with police officers outside the compounds, we have increased the role of police intelligence officers in this case," Bambang said.

Insp. Gen. Oegroseno, head of the National Police's Professionalism and Security Division, agreed combatting the practices of the judicial mafia was not easy due to existing relationships between a number of law enforcement officers and brokers that have proven to be mutually beneficial.

The nongovernmental Indonesian Anticorruption Society (Maki) said on Wednesday that the task force would provide no more than a hypocritical display of injustice unless it put the campaign against case brokers and crooked law enforcement officials into practice.

In particular, the group said, the task force has turned a blind eye to the humiliating scandal involving the National Police, the Attorney General's Office and alleged middleman Anggodo Widjojo.

"The first thing to do is to deal with the Anggodo case, that's the key priority if the task force wants to show its commitment to doing the job," Maki chairman Boyamin Saiman said.

Anggodo became the center of attention after the Constitutional Court played recordings of phone conversations in which the businessman was heard discussing ways to bring down two deputy chairmen of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) with top police and AGO officials.

Despite evidence of an apparent attempt to intervene in legal proceedings, Anggodo has never been charged by police.

"The task force may urge the KPK to name Anggodo a suspect and it doesn't need to worry about the police's reaction because it has been established by the president," said Boyamin. "Anggodo should be named a suspect by next week."

Deputy Attorney General Dharmono, a member of the task force, said the Anggodo case was a priority for the team.

"His case is currently being handled by the KPK. The task force will ask the KPK for a speedy conclusion of the case based on the existing laws," he said. "We focus on preventive measures, but we can also recommend the arrest and prosecution of suspected case brokers."

Emerson Yuntho, deputy head of Indonesia Corruption Watch, has also expressed doubts over the effectiveness of the task force.

"The task force only has the capacity to make recommendations to the president. As good as the recommendations may be, I doubt the resolution of law enforcement agencies to implement them fully," he said on Tuesday. "Case brokering has been around for many years, of course there will be resistance from rogue officers whose pockets will get thinner."

Teten Masduki, secretary general of Transparency International Indonesia, also told the Jakarta Globe on Tuesday that the task force should be given more than two years to do its job.

"The team should be given more authority not only to formulate the law enforcement system, but also to ensure that the system is implemented properly and closely monitor the police and the AGO," he said.

Hikmahanto Juwana, a professor of law from the University of Indonesia, said that the task force should have clear understanding of its "targets," adding that those involved in case brokering came from all walks of life.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono declared war on the judicial mafia after he assumed office for the second time in October, following mounting pressure over the arrest of two KPK deputies, which was believed to be engineered by businessman Anggodo Widjojo, the brother of fugitive Anggoro Widjojo. The case also implicated a senior police official and a senior prosecutor.

The existence of case brokers was confirmed to the public when the KPK arrested Urip Tri Gunawan, a senior official at the Attorney General's Office, for receiving $660,000 from businesswoman Artalyta Suryani in 2008, in return for putting an end to a major embezzlement case involving fugitive business tycoon Sjamsul Nursalim.