REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has stated the arrest of Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Deputy Chairman Bambang Widjojanto on charges of falsifying documents and testimonies violates human rights.
"There has been abuse and excessive use of power," Komnas HAM commissioner Roichatul Aswidah said here on Wednesday.
Roichatul said the arrest of Widjojanto is inseparable from the KPK's decision to name National Police chief candidate Comsr. Gen. Budi Gunawan (BG) a suspect in a graft case.
"Looking at the previous happenings, it (the naming of Budi Gunawan as a suspect) did not occur just by chance," she said.
The rights body noted that the police had excessively used its power to arrest Widjojanto.
Citing an example, she said the police officers who were tasked with arresting Widjojanto were armed with rifles as shown in the video footage.
She said the police arrested Widjojanto without a prior summons in breach of the National Police Chief's Regulation No. 14/2012.
The National Police Criminal Investigation Board (Bareskrim) detained Widjojanto for questioning at 7.30 a.m. local time on January 23 when he was driving his son to elementary school.
The police have named Widjojanto a suspect in West Kotawaringin's district head election dispute in Central Kalimantan in 2010. He has been accused of prompting a witness to give false testimony on the dispute at the Constitutional Court, when he was still a lawyer.
The arrest of Widjojanto came after KPK named Commr. Gen. Budi Gunawan a suspect for his alleged involvement in suspicious transactions when he was heading the career development division at the National Police Headquarters from 2003 to 2006 and handling other positions.
Komnas HAM set up a special team on January 26 to follow up on a report from Widjojanto who has been accused of falsifying documents and testimonies related to the district head election dispute.
The 22-member team, including eight Komnas HAM commissioners, started working on January 27) and will accomplish their duties in seven days to submit their recommendations to President Joko Widodo.
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