Nivell Rayda, Jakarta – Human rights activists urged the House of Representatives to reject Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo's nomination as the next National Police chief on Tuesday saying that the sole candidate has a questionable track record.
In a surprise move, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday night announced Timur as the sole to replace Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, who is retiring this month.
The announcement came just hours after Timur was promoted to the rank of three star general, making him eligible to run as the next police chief. For the next twenty days the House will conduct a fit and proper test and could reject Timur's bid.
"Timur's nomination is irrational," Al-Araf, program director of the human rights group Imparsial, said. "In 1998, Timur was chief of the West Jakarta police and the shooting of students at Trisakti University and the May 1998 riot occurred in his jurisdiction and during his tenure."
Al-Araf added that Timur had also failed to clarify his involvement in the shooting of students in the Semanggi area of Jakarta in November 1998, when he was still active as chief of Central Jakarta Police. The National Commission for Human Rights later conducted an investigation into all three incidents and summoned Timur for questioning three times but Timur refused to cooperate.
"We fear that if Timur is elected, these cases will never be resolved," Al-Araf said.
Haris Azhar, chairman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said that Timur also had an appalling record during his recent post as chief of the Jakarta Metro Police. "Timur achieved virtually nothing during his tenure. In fact there are a lot of unresolved cases," he said.
Haris said that Timur had failed to prevent last week's riot in front of the South Jakarta district court that saw at least three people killed, despite the fact that a similar brawl had occurred a week earlier.
Emerson Yuntho, deputy chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch also questioned the Jakarta Police's investigation into the assault of one of its researchers, Tama Satrya Langkun.
Three months since Tama was ambushed, police have failed to catch anyone responsible for the attack. "We question Timur's commitment to the antigraft drive and his seriousness in protecting anticorruption fighters and human rights activists," Emerson said.
Kontras said that it is planning to bring families of the victims of the 1998 shootings to talk with lawmakers from House Commission III, overseeing legal affairs, which will conduct the fit and proper test.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) reported that Timur had more than Rp 2.1 billion in wealth in 2008. The majority of his assets are in land and buildings, all of which are in Tangerang, Banten, totalling Rp 1.3 billion. Timur also has four cars totalling Rp 340 million while the rest of his wealth is in cash, deposits and precious stones and metals.