Public anger over conspiracy to undermine Indonesia's corruption watch
Updated
Two members of Indonesia's police and judiciary have resigned, in the wake of allegations they were involved in a conspiracy to frame two leaders of the KPK, Indonesia's anti-corruption commission.
The resignations were announced by the deputy attorney general, Abdul Hakim Ritonga, and the chief detective Susno Duadji.
Presenter: Katie Hamann
Speakers: Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Indonesian President; Danang Widoyoko, deputy coordinator, Indonesia Corruption Watch; Miftahudin, student activist
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HAMANN: For several days now student activists have camped in front of the central Jakarta headquarters of Indonesia's revered Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK. Several of them have staged a hunger strike, demanding that those apparently bent on the destruction of the KPK be brought to justice. Taking shelter from the searing midday heat, 20-year-old law student, Miftahudin, hasn't eaten for four days.
MIFTAHUDIN: (translation) I will do this until all of the corruption cases are handled and I am doing it out of solidarity with all the Indonesian people who are hungry because of corruption.
HAMANN: Though much less dramatic the protests echo the uprising of a decade ago, when fierce and violent public agitation brought down the crippled Soeharto regime after three decades. Though smaller in scale, this time round the campaign is much more sophisticated. Using SMS, email and social networking sites, hundreds of protests have been staged across the archipelago. A Facebook site dedicated to defending the integrity of the KPK has attracted more than 800,000 members this week alone. The source of people's anger is the revelation of a conspiracy to frame two KPK officials, Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Riyanto. The plot against them was revealed earlier this week, when a series of secretly recorded telephone conversations were publicly aired.
SFX: tapes. Indonesian.
HAMANN: In them Anggodo Wijoyo, the brother of a wanted corruption suspect who fled Indonesia to Singapore last year, discuss a scheme to frame the KPK officials, involving Susno Duadji, the national police's chief of detectives, and deputy attorney Abdul Hakim Ritonga. In one conversation Anggodo suggests he will have Chandra murdered once he is in custody. Yesterday, amid growing public pressure Susno and Ritonga were forced to submit their resignations. Danang Widoyoko is the deputy coordinator of Indonesia Corruption Watch. He says Indonesian's are used to corruption, but tape recordings reveal the extent of rot in the countries judiciary.
WIDOYOKO: Is that we have a big problem of corruption within the police (indistinguishable) and also the problem with the corruption within the Attorney-Generals office. So we call it here Mafia Peradilan or Judicial Mafia.
HAMANN: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, whose name was also mentioned in the tapes, has launched an independent investigation into them. In a televised address he sought to quell public anger:
YUDHOYONO: (translation) The team is independent, doesn't represent the AGO, police or KPK but its responsibility is directly to me. I give them two weeks at the latest.
HAMANN: But members of the team have already threatened to quit over what they call stonewalling tactics by the police and prosecutors. And as the momentum for action gathers pace, corruption watchdogs and the public are calling for much more than the scalps of Susno and Ritonga. Danang Widoyoko again:
WIDOYOKO: Not only Susno and Ritonga but also all the names that mentioned in the wire-tapping recordings should resign and secondly we also demand the civil police and attorney-general should resign as well, because those that are supposed to be responsible for the corruption within the police. It should have been 10 years ago, because 10 years ago we demand to cut, one generation, to cut all the judges, to cut all prosecutor, to cut all police, but at the time, it seemed that we didn't have enough capacity and political support.
