Indonesian Police Lacked Evidence in Graft Case

Indonesian police didn 't have enoughevidence to name two officers of the government' s anti-graft agency as suspects in an abuse-of-power case, a panel formed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said late yesterday.

The case against Bibit Rianto and Chandra Hamzah, deputy chairmen of the Corruption Eradication Commission, known as KPK, will be weak if it is forced to go to court with charges
of abuse of power, said Adnan Buyung Nasution, who heads the panel set up last week amid a public outcry over the arrests.

Anti-graft groups have accused the police of manufacturing a case against Hamzah and Rianto to hamper the agency's efforts to pursue corruption cases. KPK has convicted politicians and
policemen since it was founded in 2003.

Yudhoyono said last week the top priority in his second term, which started Oct. 20, will be rooting out the judiciary mafia responsible for bribery of state officers to secure favorable court judgments.

Police arrested Hamzah and Rianto Oct. 29 for allegedly abusing their powers when issuing travel bans against graft suspects. The arrests sparked a public outcry that saw students
go on hunger strikes and spawned a campaign on the social- networking Web site Facebook supporting the anti-graft officials.

Yudhoyono appointed the inquiry panel, which will give its final recommendations next week, after saying he wouldn't interfere in the legal process. The panel has no legal authority
to force the attorney general or police to drop the case.

Indonesian Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri said last week his force intends to prosecute Hamzah and Rianto because investigators found “money trails linking them to a businessman whose brother was put on the KPK's travel ban list.

Although money trails were discovered from the tycoon to a middleman, the evidence stopped there, said Nasution from the inquiry team. There's no evidence presented to us on the subsequent money flow. It now depends on the attorney general, whether the case is brought to court, he said.
The police chief and attorney general report to Yudhoyono, who was re-elected in the July 8 election partly because of his anti-corruption achievements and promises.
Prosecutors have returned the files on Hamzah and Rianto to police because more evidence and better witness testimony is needed, the attorney general's office said on its Web site.
Under Indonesian law, police have 14 days to refile the case with prosecutors, who will then decide whether to proceed.