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132376
Sun, 07/11/2010 - 06:07
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News focus: ANTI-CORRUPTION CRUSADERS` SPIRIT BEING TESTED

By Rahmad Nasution

Jakarta, July 10 (ANTARA) - The second week of July 2010 proved to be a challenging time for press freedom and anti-corruption fighters in Indonesia.

Two days after the petrol bomb attack on prestigious Tempo news magazine's office building in Central Jakarta early Tuesday, an Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) activist was brutally attacked by unknown people.

Although Tempo and ICW are two different institutions, the attacks reminded the public of one hot issue, namely the suspicious bank accounts in the name of certain senior police officers.

The issue was first brought to the Indonesian public's attention by Tempo in its edition of June 28, 2010 under the title "Police Officers' Fat Bank Accounts".

Based on the results of an investigative reporting effort, the magazine revealed that a number of police officers had received an average of one to two billion rupiahs a day during certain periods of time. "There is a general who received ten billion rupiah in one money transfer," it said.

Considering that each of the senior police officers had a monthly salary of not more than Rp10 million, Tempo argued, it was hard to believe that they had obtained the money in their fat bank accounts in lawful ways.

Therefore, it warned that the police could not expect public sympathy if they failed to clear themselves of suspected corruption.

The Tempo magazine's report is part of the ongoing war on corruption - activities Tama S.Langkun and other ICW activists have been engaged in for years.

Since the brutal attack on Tama occurred early Thursday, the 25-year-old ICW investigator is still being treated at Asri Hospital in Duren Tiga for wounds on his head that required 29 stitches and on some other parts of his body.

Langkun and other ICW activists had reported the huge suspicious accounts of several high ranking police officers to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).

Whether or not there was a close link between the incidents that Tempo and Langkun have undergone the suspicious bank accounts issue is not yet clear.

But, one thing is clear enough : the two incidents have drawn condemnation from various critical elements in Indonesian society.

Chairman of West Sulawesi's Anti-Corruption Legion (LAK) Muslim Talillah Azis, for instance, said the attack on Tempo was an act of terror to suppress press freedom in Indonesia while the attack on Langkun might be related to his ICW activities.

"We condemn those behind the attacks on Tempo magazine and the ICW activist. We want them brought to trial."
"We condemn this act of terror," he said, adding that this kind of terror was apparently the work of corruptors or their henchmen who disliked those consistently fighting their practices.
In response to the attack on Tempo, Jakarta Police spokesperson Senior Commissioner Boy Rafli Amar said the terror was not related to the news stories the magazine had recently published.

A similar statement was issued by National Police Headquarters spokesman Inspector General Edward Aritonang in response to the acts of violence that Tama S.Langkun had experienced.

In his press statement in Jakarta on Friday, Aritonang did not only convey the police's pledge to investigate the case but also asked the people not to link the attack on Tama S.Langkun with other cases before finding any evidence.

"We hope (people) will trust the police to unveil the case professionally," he said.

Aritonang said the police did not rule out any possibilities including that it might be connected with Langkun's investigation into some police officers' banking accounts although that was not the only thing that the police would do.

Apart from the police's pledge to reveal the cases and bring those responsible to trial, the attacks themselves also drew the serious attention of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

For him, the war on corruption should go on despite the acts of terror and violence anti-corruption activists might sometimes expereince.

"Whatever challenges, obstacles, and threats those involved in the combat of corruptions undergo, this great mission must go on," he said after visiting Tama S.Langkun in hospital on Saturday.

Combating corruption was a noble cause that would enable Indonesia to have a clean governance. Therefore, law enforcement bodies, including the police, prosecutor's office, KPK, and the Attorney General's Office, need to work in close cooperation and coordination with each other.

The head of state urged them to avoid any effort that would weaken each of them and work hard to unveil every unlawful act or practice in accordance with existing laws.

The acts of terror that Tempo and ICW have undergone this week have sent a clear message to all anti-corruption fighters in the country, namely crooks will always remain unhappy with any effort to stamp out corruption in Indonesia. But the crooks will never be able to extinguish the spirit of the anti-corruption crusaders.

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