Jakarta police free top official from national anti-graft agency

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Jakarta police free top official from national anti-graft agency

Arrest had been seen as retaliation for naming senior investigator as corruption suspect

PUBLISHED : Sunday, 25 January, 2015, 7:09am
UPDATED : Sunday, 25 January, 2015, 7:09am

Associated Press in Jakarta

Bambang Widjojanto (centre), the deputy head of the Corruption Eradication Commission, after his release yesterday. Photo: EPA

Police released a deputy head of Indonesia's top anti-corruption body early yesterday following his arrest and interrogation, a move that posed a serious challenge for President Joko Widodo's efforts to battle graft.

The arrest of Bambang Widjojanto came days after the Corruption Eradication Commission named a top police officer a suspect, sparking accusations of police retaliation and demands the president defend the agency.

Widjojanto left police headquarters in Jakarta saying he was ready for more questioning if needed. More than 100 activists gathered at the commission's office to support Widjojanto and call on Widodo to back the graft-fighting body.

"People could easily guess that the arrest is not purely an effort to enforce the law," said activist Zainal Arifin Mochtar.

"It is time for Jokowi to prove his words during his campaign."

Widjojanto and commission head Abraham Samad had earlier named police Lieutenant General Budi Gunawan a graft suspect, just a day before parliament was to hold a confirmation hearing on his nomination as national police chief.

Parliament still endorsed the nomination. Gunawan's candidacy has been challenged by anti-graft activists.

The commission has been investigating US$4.3 million in Gunawan's bank accounts, and Widjojanto and Samad have said they had evidence the money might be related to bribes.

Widodo announced last week that he had postponed the decision to appoint Gunawan as police chief because he was being investigated by the commission.

At the protest, demonstrators were adamant Widjojanto's arrest was retaliation for the Gunawan case.

"The arrest was symbolic of what is happening. The police are trying to kill the KPK [anti-graft agency]," 26-year-old lawyer Veronica Koman said.

National police spokesman Major General Ronny Franky Sompie said Widjojanto was arrested for allegedly giving false testimony as a lawyer in 2010.

"We have enough evidence that he asked witnesses to provide false reports before the court," Sompie told reporters.

On Friday, Widodo summoned leaders of the anti-graft commission and acting police chief Lieutenant General Badrodin Haiti to the presidential palace in Bogor, West Java province, and urged them to avoid friction between the two institutions.

Indonesia is often ranked by international observers as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

The country's anti-graft commission has made powerful enemies by putting scores of suspects on trial.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse