It has been more than a month since the attack against a senior investigator of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Novel Baswedan, took place.
However, the investigation of the case by the National Police remains in the dark.
Hopes flickered when National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian confirmed the arrest of AL in connection with the acid attack against Novel. However, the hopes disappeared because the Jakarta Police released AL due to inadequate evidence.
Photos of AL were obtained by the National Police from Novel, who is being treated in Singapore.
Novel was doused with the acid liquid by an unknown person on April 11. Novel is in charge of handling mega corruption cases, including the corruption surrounding the e-ID case involving a number of members of the House of Representatives.
The case of the e-ID cards is believed to have caused the state to suffer losses of up to Rp 2.4 trillion. Previously, in a Corruption Court trial session, Novel also revealed that several House members had threatened House member Miryam Haryani to withdraw her testimony.
If Novel\'s case cannot be revealed, it will only add to a long list of attacks against anti-corruption activists that go unsolved. Several years ago, anti-corruption activist Tama Satrya Langkun was stabbed by an unknown person in 2010. In 2015, an anti-corruption activist in Bangkalan, East Java, Mathur Husaini, was shot by an unknown person. The two cases were not solved.
The attack against Novel, which cannot be uncovered, has created a movement in cyberspace. Amnesty International Indonesia has made a petition through Change.org addressed to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo and National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian. The petition, which has been signed by 52,819 people as of May 12, 2017, urges President Jokowi and the National Police chief to solve the assault case against Novel.
We encourage the National Police, under National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, to break through the assumption that cases surrounding attacks on anti-corruption activists cannot be solved. We remain confident that the National Police will be able to uncover the perpetrators of the acid attack against Novel. The inability to solve the case will jeopardize the anti-corruption movement.
A proposal from the KPK to strengthen the police team tasked with uncovering the acid attack against Novel needs to be considered, including the proposal to set up an independent team to reveal who perpetrated the heinous crime and what was the motivation for the attack against Novel. The independent team, which would consist of a joint investigation from the National Police and outsiders, is expected to help the National Police solve the case.
