Sita W. Dewi – As the standoff between the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the National Police continues, the KPK's probe into graft surrounding the procurement of driving simulators implicating a police general is going nowhere.
Although the KPK has taken a host of documents into evidence, investigators face problems in questioning people in the case who have been named suspects by the police – who are running a separate investigation – and taken into custody at the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) detention center in Kelapa Dua, Bekasi, West Java.
The situation at KPK headquarters has been tense, following reports that unidentified groups tried to enter the container outside the headquarters serving as a makeshift evidence control room for the huge amount of documents seized in the case.
Reports also said that police officers have been allowed into the KPK compound to "guard" the evidence. Unusually, three police patrol cruisers have been seen parked outside KPK headquarters.
A KPK security official was quoted as saying by kompas.com that the police were apparently "spying" on the evidence confiscated by the KPK investigators from the National Police Traffic Corps headquarters last week.
Meanwhile, National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar confirmed that the officers were dispatched to "improve" security at the KPK. "We have no plans to take the evidence back with us," Boy told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
Concerned activists formed a human chain near the makeshift evidence control room on Sunday.
KPK spokesman Johan Budi said that the commission had not intensified security at its headquarters to prevent unexpected moves from the police. "There have been no efforts to intensify security at the KPK headquarters," he told the Post on Sunday.
Although the Corruption Law allows the commission to supersede and halt corruption investigations launched by the Attorney General's Office or the National Police, the police have pressed ahead with their investigation, quickly detaining four of five suspects.
The police said that they would not hand over the three police officer suspects currently in detention to the KPK, despite a previous agreement to conduct a "joint investigation". "We will not hand over the three [police] suspects to the KPK," National Police detective chief Comr. Gen. Sutarman said over the weekend.
Detectives from the National Police's criminal investigations directorate (Bareskrim) arrested four suspects in the case on Friday: the Traffic Corps' deputy chief, Brig. Gen. Didik Purnomo; the officer in charge of the procurement, Adj. Sr. Comr. Teddy Rismawan; the procurement's fincancial officer, Comr. Legimo; and the head of the company that won the contract, Citra Mandiri Metalindo director Budi Susanto.
Didik, Teddy and Legimo have been detained at the Brimob's detention center, while Budi has been held at Bareskrim's detention center in Jakarta.
Former Traffic Corps chief Ins. Gen. Djoko Susilo, who has been removed from his position as the Police Academy governor, has been named a suspect in the case, although he has yet to be detained or questioned.
Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) chairman Neta S. Pane said on Sunday that the KPK's probe would depend on testimony from the four suspects currently held by the National Police. "The KPK has the authority to force the police to hand over the suspects. The KPK can arrest the National Police detective chief for obstructing its investigation," Neta said.