The Jakarta Post, 11/23/2009.
In what many deemed a disappointing, confusing and anti-climactic outcome, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday night said the case the police had built against two leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Bibit Samad Riyanto and Chandra Hamzah, should not go to court.
Yudhoyono did not make it clear, however, as to whether the investigations being conducted by the police and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) into the two KPK deputy chiefs, which is believed to have been a conspiracy to frame them, should be dropped as recommended by the fact-finding team he appointed this month especially to investigate the alleged framing.
He also did not order for sanctions to be imposed on several key figures in the case, including top members of the police and AGO, who were allegedly involved in the conspiracy, another of the teams recommendations that were handed to him early last week.
“Initially, I believe, court is the right forum to decide whether or not Chandra M. Hamzah and Bibit Samad Riyanto are guilty, on conditions that the investigation and prosecution process are fair and objective, with strong evidence strong public trust,” Yudhoyono said in a much-anticipated press conference at Merdeka State Palace.
“However, since during the development there has been a growing public distrust of the police and the AGO… the better solution and option is that the police and the AGO do not bring this case to court,” he said.
Yudhoyono seemed reluctant to state clearly that he was ordering the police or the AGO to stop investigations into the Bibit and Chandra case, repeating that it was not his place to intervene.
Instead, Yudhoyono’s speech was platitudinous and normative, instructing the police the AGO and the KPK to carry out “reforms”. “Immediate efforts to correct and improve the three institutions are necessary,” he said.
Source: The Jakarta Post
In what many deemed a disappointing, confusing and anti-climactic outcome, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday night said the case the police had built against two leaders of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Bibit Samad Riyanto and Chandra Hamzah, should not go to court.
Yudhoyono did not make it clear, however, as to whether the investigations being conducted by the police and the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) into the two KPK deputy chiefs, which is believed to have been a conspiracy to frame them, should be dropped as recommended by the fact-finding team he appointed this month especially to investigate the alleged framing.
He also did not order for sanctions to be imposed on several key figures in the case, including top members of the police and AGO, who were allegedly involved in the conspiracy, another of the teams recommendations that were handed to him early last week.
“Initially, I believe, court is the right forum to decide whether or not Chandra M. Hamzah and Bibit Samad Riyanto are guilty, on conditions that the investigation and prosecution process are fair and objective, with strong evidence strong public trust,” Yudhoyono said in a much-anticipated press conference at Merdeka State Palace.
“However, since during the development there has been a growing public distrust of the police and the AGO… the better solution and option is that the police and the AGO do not bring this case to court,” he said.
Yudhoyono seemed reluctant to state clearly that he was ordering the police or the AGO to stop investigations into the Bibit and Chandra case, repeating that it was not his place to intervene.
Instead, Yudhoyono’s speech was platitudinous and normative, instructing the police the AGO and the KPK to carry out “reforms”. “Immediate efforts to correct and improve the three institutions are necessary,” he said.
Source: The Jakarta Post
