Tuesday November 24, 2009
Indonesia moves top cop aside in graft scandal
By Telly Nathalia
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's chief of detectives, whose role in a corruption scandal sparked a public outcry, has been moved aside to a "non-job", a police spokesman said on Tuesday.
The scandal, which arose from a power struggle between the country's respected Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, and other law enforcement agencies, has forced President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to promise he will address legal reform.
Such reform is seen as crucial for curbing graft, attracting investment, and lifting growth.
Susno Duadji, chief of detectives in the national police, was one of several officials allegedly involved in an attempt to frame two deputy chiefs at the KPK.
The two KPK officials were arrested and accused of bribery and extortion.
In their defence they submitted taped telephone conversations in which various law enforcement officials and a businessman discussed plans to frame them and even kill one of them in jail.
Duadji was also allegedly caught on tape by the KPK soliciting a bribe.
He shot to national fame when he referred to the battle between the KPK's graft-busters and police as a fight between geckos, or tiny house lizards, and crocodiles.
The nicknames caught on nationwide and police subsequently begged the media and the public to stop referring to them as crocodiles -- a plea that was widely ignored.
Duadji resigned after the scandal broke but local media later reported he had remained on staff.
But after Yudhoyono urged the police and attorney-general's office to drop their case against the two KPK officials, the national police called a media conference late on Tuesday and announced 25 changes in top posts, including Duadji's.
"This is a rotation of tour of duty," said Nanan Soekarna, the national police spokesman, although he conceded that in Duadji's case this may have been a response to the president's request.
The anti-corruption agency has won widespread public support thanks to its success in investigating corrupt politicians, central bankers and other officials, while the police and state prosecutors are generally distrusted by Indonesians.
Copyright © 2008 Reuters
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