Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono rebuked his country’s police force at a ceremony to commemorate its 64th anniversary yesterday, saying he has received millions of public complaints about the force that has been tainted with allegations of graft.
His comments came in the wake of a firebomb attack on the office of a news magazine which recently published an article about alleged corruption in the police force. Police have denied any involvement.
In his speech, Mr Yudhoyono demanded a thorough probe into allegations of police corruption and urged the National Police to be objective when investigating rogue officers.
“Please take action,” he told the police. “If anyone broke the law, they must be punished. Otherwise, explain that to the public.”
The President said he has received an outpouring of public criticism of the police since the launch of his Short-Message-Service hotline.
“I think some of the criticisms are true and some are not. Every day, I receive hundreds of SMS messages – it has reached millions since 2005. Most of the SMSes are public criticisms of the police,” he said in comments.
The National Police has not shrugged off the image of rampant corruption despite a decade of reforms.
Last week, Tempo news magazine published a story accusing senior police generals of amassing millions of dollars in bank accounts from illegal activities.
Police then threatened to sue the magazine, not over the article itself, but because of an illustration on the cover showing an officer with piggy banks.
Early yesterday, two homemade Molotov cocktails were thrown at the magazine’s headquarters in Jakarta. No damage was caused and no one was injured.
National police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri denied that police had carried out the attack, while spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said they were hunting two suspects seen on a motorcycle.
Tempo editor-in-chief Wahyu Muryadi said: “We have reported this barbaric incident to the police and we are waiting for the police investigation to reveal the perpetrator.”
Condemnation of the attack has been swift. The chairman of the Alliance of Independent Journalists, Mr Nezar Patria, said that if the attack was related to Tempo’s recent article, then “it would be an attack on press freedom”, the Globe reported.
