Farouk Arnaz, Jakarta – A criminologist who sits on the commission that supervises the National Police was threatened with defamation charges after comments during a TV interview in which he said the National Police was corrupt.
The controversy began when Adrianus Meliala, a criminologist, remarked in the TV interview that nobody should be surprised by the corruption scandal uncovered in the West Java Police's General Crimes Division. Adrianus added that the National Police's leadership had come to use its criminal investigation arm as an ATM.
He retracted the statement after an ultimatum by National Police Chief Gen. Sutarman on Aug. 19 demanding a public apology and retraction or else face criminal defamation charges.
The criminologist initially insisted the comments fell within the scope of his work as commissioner on the National Police Commission, under which he is legally obligated to supervise the force's conduct.
Sutarman alleged the commissioner's comments were criminal by virtue of their ability to undermine public confidence in the police.
On Aug. 26 Adrianus reported to the police's criminal investigation division – which he was accused of defaming – for questioning in connection with his comments. This was followed by his apology and retraction on Aug. 29.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said the law is strictly enforced against members of the police who violate it. The National Police has issued dishonorable discharge to 72 officers over the past two years for ethics violations or criminal offenses such as drugs, he said
"The National Police has investigated 371 members over the 2012-2014 period. Based on the trial process, 72 received dishonorable discharges," Boy said at the National Police headquarters on Thursday.
Boy said of the 72 officers dismissed, 35 were related to narcotics in 2012 and four were narcotics-related in 2013. While data for narcotics-related cases this year are not available yet, the remaining cases stem from morality and desertion.
Boy's statement comes in the wake of recent drug trafficking arrests of two members of the West Kalimantan Police in Kuching, Malaysia.
Adj. Sr. Comr. Idha Endri Prastiono, head of the West Kalimantan Police's anti-narcotics unit, and Chief Brig. M.P. Harahap, an officer at the Entikong sub-precinct police station in West Kalimantan's Sanggau district, were arrested in Kuching on Friday.
They are alleged to have been involved in an attempt to smuggle six kilograms of methamphetamine from Malaysia to Indonesia, West Kalimantan Police chief Brig. Gen. Arief Sulistyanto said in a statement on Sunday.
"The case is still being handled by the Malaysian authorities, so we don't know yet how far these two officers are involved in the case," Arief said. He added that Indonesian police officials had gone to Kuching to discuss the case with their Malaysian counterparts.
Idha is no stranger to controversy, with antigraft watchdogs demanding an investigation into the source of his wealth after a bizarre revelation by his wife, Titi Yusnawati, in January.
Titi claimed to have lost Rp 19 billion ($1.6 million) worth of jewelry during a flight from Supadio Airport in Pontianak, the West Kalimantan capital, to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport outside Jakarta.
Idha later corrected the figure to Rp 500 million, and after the jewelry was recovered from a gang of luggage thieves, a branch of the state pawnshop operator Pegadaian estimated that the items were worth Rp 181 million, Tempo.co reported. Idha never explained how he could afford that much for jewelry on a police officer's salary of less than Rp 10 million a month.
Before the West Kalimantan Police officers under the national corruption spotlight, a bribery scandal in which the West Java Police's General Crimes Division allegedly took a Rp 5 billion bribe from an online bookmaker dominated the July and August headlines. It was this scandal that prompted Adrianus's "ATM" comments and the subsequent, simmering feud.
Last year, Adj. First Insp Labora Sitorus, a West Papua Police officer, was sentenced to two years in prison and a Rp 50 million fine for laundering up to Rp 1.5 trillion in criminal proceeds. The charges brought by prosecutors, which included fuel smuggling and exporting a protected timber species, had seen him facing a possible 20 years.
Labora's case electrified the nation last year when the National Police confirmed findings by anti-money laundering watchdog PPATK that Rp 1.5 trillion in suspicious funds had passed through the low-ranking officer's bank accounts between 2007 and 2012.
Source: http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/national-police-crack-critical-crimonologist/