It is time for President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to form an independent team to investigate the acid attack on Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) senior investigator Novel Baswedan.JAKARTA, KOMPAS — It is high time that President Joko Widodo takes charge of resolving the acid attack on Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) senior investigator Novel Baswedan by forming a fact-finding team (TPF). No light has been shed on the case since it occurred on 11 April 2017.
After six months, the TPF formed by National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian has yet to uncover the perpetrators and motive behind the attack. Since it was formed on 8 Jan. 2019, the TPF has only discovered that the violent assault committed against Novel was possibly connected to certain cases he was working on. The TPF also discovered that three unidentified individuals were spotted near Novel’s house in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, before the attack took place.
The TPF then recommended that the National Police establish a technical field team to follow up on these findings.
“We thought that the TPF would have at least identified possible suspects. However, from what we have seen, no suspects will be named. The perpetrators must be found,” KPK deputy chair Laode M. Syarif said on Wednesday (17/7/2019) in Jakarta.
Novel’s wife, Rina Emilda, said that she was dissatisfied by the TPF’s work so far. “Since the beginning, the family wanted an independent joint fact-finding team [formed by the President] to work on the case. [The attack] occurred so long ago, but no perpetrators have been found, let alone the mastermind,” she said.
Civil society activists also voiced an urgent need for the President to establish a joint fact-finding team. Wana Alamsyah of the Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) said that the attack on Novel should be viewed as part of the systematic effort to weaken the KPK in particular and corruption eradication efforts in general.
The President said earlier on 14 Jan. that his job was to supervise and oversee Novel’s case to ensure that it was resolved (Kompas, 15/1/2019).
He then said on 20 Feb. 2018 that he would urge the National Police to investigate the attack on Novel. The President said he would take further action if the National Police threw in the towel and said it could not resolve the case. However, the President never gave any clear criteria for the police’s inability to solve the case, nor did he provide a time frame for the investigation (Kompas, 21/2/2018).
Report
The TPF produced a 2,700-page report following its six-month investigation into the Novel case. TPF expert team member Nur Kholis said the team had discovered that three unidentified persons were spotted around Novel’s residence in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, before he was attacked on 11 April 2017. The first unknown individual arrived at Novel’s house on 5 April 2017, peddling Muslim attire to the family. The second and third individuals were spotted at dawn on 10 April 2017, sitting near the ablution area of Al-Ihsan Mosque. Novel performed his dawn prayer at the mosque on the day of the attack.
Nur said that the TPF also discovered possible connections between the attack and certain cases Novel was working on in his capacity as KPK senior investigator. These included the e-ID card case, the case of former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar, the case of former Supreme Court secretary-general Nurhadi, the case of Central Sulawesi’s former Buol regent and the case of the Asian Games Athletes Village. It was also alleged that the attack was connected to Novel’s involvement in the 2004 shooting of a swallows’ nest thief in Bengkulu.
Nur continued that the alleged motive behind the acid attack on Novel was simply to make him suffer. This was supported by the finding that the sulfuric acid used in the attack was not of high concentration.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Mohammad Iqbal said that its chief had ordered criminal investigation head Comr. Gen. Idham Azis to select the best officers to serve on the technical field team that would follow up on the TPF’s findings. The team would for a period of six months, which could be extended.
Puri Kencana Putri of Amnesty International Indonesia (AII) said that the TPF’s results were a step back, as the police’s earlier investigation had produced better results. The TPF also allotted some blame to the victim in its conclusion. The AII would attempt to bring the attack on Novel to international attention through the US Congress. (IAN/EDN/SAN