Susno thumbs nose at AGO on Youtube

Ina Parlina and Yuliasri Perdani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Tue, April 30 2013, 9:15 AM

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Six days after the bungled effort by the Jakarta Prosecutors Office to send him to jail, graft convict and former National Police detective chief Insp. Gen. Susno Duadji appeared on a video uploaded to YouTube, mocking the efforts of law enforcement agencies to apprehend him.

In the 15-minute video, uploaded on Monday afternoon by an account under the name of Yohana Celia, Susno said that he remained in Bandung, West Java, and insisted that his decision to be on the run was part of his effort to uphold the rules and regulations.

“I am here and I am fine. I am in my own electoral district in Bandung. My move is not to violate the law, but instead to uphold the law and justice,” said Susno, who appeared on the provisional list of legislative candidates representing the Islam-based Crescent Star Party (PBB).

Susno then asked government officials and politicians not to use his case as a means of boosting their own popularity. “We have a coordinating minister [Djoko Suyanto of Political, Legal and Security Affairs] ordering the National Police chief and the Attorney General to execute a court order against me. This is symptomatic of a chaotic legal system. A minister can’t be allowed to interfere with the courts and judiciary.”

Later in his rant, Susno praised President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for giving the order to Attorney General Basrief Arief and National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo to uphold the law “correctly and fairly”.

Susno’s tirade then moved on to demands that the police arrest Basrief for trying to take away his freedom. It appears that Susno was reciting points prepared by his defense lawyers.

Susno’s defense team included chairman of the PBB advisory board and former law and human rights minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra.

Yusril was at Susno’s side when prosecutors tried to take him to jail last week. He tried to use the same argument when prosecutors tried to execute a court order on his client Parlin Riduansyah, sentenced to three years in a graft case in Banjarmasin, Central Kalimantan.

A group of judiciary watchdogs criticized West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Tubagus Anis Angkawijaya and Yusril for protecting Susno, and suggested that the two individuals could be charged under the anti-graft law with obstruction of justice.

“They could have violated Article 21 of the 2001 Corruption Law on the obstruction of justice. The AGO [Attorney General’s Office] must arrest them,” Erwin Natosmal of the Indonesian Legal Roundtable (ILR) said on Monday.

Article 21 of the Corruption Law stipulates that anyone who intentionally prevents, obstructs or hinders the investigation, prosecution, or trial of graft suspects, defendants, or witnesses, could be sentenced to up to 12 years in prison and be fined up to Rp 600 million.

The coalition also said that there could be other charges for harboring a fugitive and for obstructing an investigation.

Responding to Susno’s appearance on YouTube, Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar of the National Police said that they were still at something of a loss trying to figure out the location of the former police detective chief.

“West Java is vast. We are talking about a whole province here. Attorney General Pak Basyrief Arief said that he is still on the case. So we are ready to help,” Boy said.

Earlier on Monday, National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said the police would give their full support to the AGO in their efforts to arrest Susno. (ogi)
Susno’s road to ruin

• Dec. 1, 2009: Chief detective Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji hands over his post to Insp. Gen. Ito Sumardi after revelations that he had a role in fabricating cases against two deputy leaders of the KPK.

• March 2010: Susno accuses several top police officers of corruption when investigating the money laundering and tax evasion case of Gayus H. Tambunan worth Rp 25 billion (US$2.73 million).

• April 12, 2010: Susno arrested by police internal investigation officials at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport as he is about to fly to Singapore “for a medical check up”.

• May 25, 2010: Police name Susno a suspect for corruption in the 2008 West Java gubernatorial election.

• Oct. 12, 2010: Former diplomat and businessman Sjahril Djohan is sentenced to 18 months for bribing Susno in exchange for a decision to change the civil case against fish breeder PT Salmah Arowana Lestari (SAL) into a criminal case.

• March 24, 2011: The South Jakarta District Court hands Susno Duadji 3.5 years in prison and a fine of Rp 200 million while ordering him to return Rp 4 billion of state funds, after finding that he accepted a
Rp 500 million bribe from SAL and of embezzling security funds earmarked for the 2008 West Java gubernatorial election while he was the province’s police chief.

• Nov. 10, 2011: The Jakarta High Court rejects Susno’s appeal.

• Nov. 22, 2012: The Supreme Court rejects Susno’s appeal and has orders him to begin his jail term immediately and pay his fine.

• April 24, 2013: Prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office and Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office fail to take Susno to Sukamiskin Penitentiary in Bandung.

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