Awaiting President’s Will

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Singer Melanie Soebono and other activists from the Coalition of Civil Society for the KPK stage a rally and musical performance in front of Jakarta’s Merdeka Palace on Wednesday (11/4/2018) to commemorate 365 days since KPK chief investigator Novel Baswedan was attacked with acid. They demanded the President to set up a fact-finding team on the case, which has seen very little progress in the current investigation.

President Joko Widodo has blasted the acid attack on Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) senior investigator Novel Baswedan. The violence Novel experienced must not reoccur.

It was such a relief to hear President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s statement in his capacity as the head of state and the head of government, as Kompas reported last year on Apr. 12. On the morning of Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2017, unknown assailants threw acid on Novel’s face. Novel was taken to a Singapore hospital to receive treatment on his damaged eye.

As reported at the time, President Jokowi had remarked, “We must not let people with strong principles like him be targeted by uncivilized attacks. Such violence must not reoccur.”

The President then ordered National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian to investigate the case thoroughly. Tito in turn ordered the Jakarta Police chief to investigate the case.

The KPK responded in a similar, strong manner. KPK chair Agus Rahardjo said, “We ensure that the KPK will neither diminish [its law enforcement efforts] nor be affected by this act of terror. The KPK will continue to fight corruption. The KPK asks everyone to fight all forms of terror and all efforts to undermine corruption eradication.”

Today, exactly one year has passed since the attack. Concrete results have yet to follow President Jokowi’s speech, apart from a police sketch of the alleged perpetrators. National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Setyo Wasisto said that the investigation was still ongoing into the case.

The investigation seems to be progressing much more slowly than public expectations. Because of the National Police’s professional capability in resolving a number of terror and bomb attacks, the public was convinced that the police could solve Novel’s case relatively quickly. Their failure to do so has led to impatience and a public call to form a joint fact-finding team (TGPF).

The unsolved case of the acid attack on Novel Baswedan has led to speculation and rumor, including one that alleges certain political powers were pulling the strings to prevent immediate closure to the case. Unfortunately, the President has yet to make any positive response to the suggestion to form a TGPF, and the investigation remains in the hands of the National Police.

Forming a TGPF, or whatever it may be dubbed, is nothing special. The case into the mysterious death of prominent human rights activist Munir in 2004 was solved after such a team was created. A TGPF team will surely have more flexibility and reach in gathering facts. As the President has never responded to the suggestion for a TGPF, the public has asked, unsurprisingly, just how must the President was committed to solving Novel’s case.

Regardless of the fact that Novel is sometimes a controversial figure, any attack on a KPK investigator is an attack on corruption eradication. The state must not fear acts of terror against corruption eradication. President Jokowi must take control in the efforts to solve Novel’s case by doing everything in his power, including forming a joint team. The public is still awaiting signs of his will to do so.