Even though it has been 202 days since the liquid acid attack on KPK investigator Novel Baswedan, the case remains a mystery.
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Kompas/Alif Ichwan
Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) chairman Agus Rahardjo (left) and Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Idham Azis hold up police sketches of the suspected perpetrators of the acid attack on senior KPK investigator Novel Baswedan at a press conference at KPK headquarters on Friday (24/11).
Even though it has been 202 days since the liquid acid attack on Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan, the case remains a mystery.
However, the mystery is starting to be unraveled. Descriptions have emerged of the alleged perpetrators, with Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Idham Aziz beginning to expose the mystery. At the KPK building on Friday, he released the police sketches of two faces believed to be those of Novel\'s attackers.
Even though they are just sketches, we appreciate the Jakarta Police and National Police’s seriousness in investigating the case. National Police Chief Gen. (Pol) Tito Karnavian also presented the facial sketches in a recent meeting with President Joko Widodo.
The KPK investigator, who was handling several major corruption cases, was doused with liquid acid on Apr. 11, 2017, after observing the dawn prayer near his house at Al-Ihsan Mosque.
The attack on Novel was brutal and despicable. Speculations spread that the motive behind the attack related to major corruption cases the KPK was handling, or to internal problems within the KPK. The speculations were fuelled by an investigation that has not yet found any clear cause.
The attack on Novel is also an attack on the national corruption eradication agenda.
The idea to form a joint fact-finding team appeared following the drawn-out effort to investigate the attack on Novel. It is understandable that a number of anticorruption figures called for the formation of such a team, because the attack on Novel is also an attack on the national corruption eradication agenda. We are grateful that the Jakarta Police has disclosed the facial sketches to the public. The Jakarta Police has also invite the public to provide information on the whereabouts of the suspects depicted in the sketches.
We urge the police to immediately arrest the perpetrators of the acid attack on Novel; and not only the attackers, but also the mastermind of the attack.
If the sketches of the attackers are accurate, of course, it will not be difficult for the police to arrest them. With the e-ID card’s single identity system and upon the police’s belief that Novel\'s attackers were present a day earlier, arresting the perpetrators is only a matter of time. Solving Novel’s case should no longer hold any obstacles.
We believe the National Police under Tito Karnavian, who has developed scientific investigative methods, will not face any difficulties in arresting the perpetrators, thereby turning the sketches into real faces. In arresting the perpetrators and taking them to court, all speculations will be answered through an accurate investigation and open trial.
