NO INSTITUTIONAL CONFLICT BETWEEN POLICE, KPK : PRESIDENT

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the detention by police of suspended Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputies Bibit Samad Riyanto and Chandra Hamzah was not due to an institutional conflict between police and the KPK.

The president's statement was quoted by Minister of Communications and Informatics Tifatul Sembiring after Friday prayers held within the complex of the Presidential Palace here on Friday.

"The president said that he kept on monitoring developments of the KPK case, where its deputies Bibit and Chandra have been detained. He stressed that it was not an institutional conflict," the minister said.

The president said, according to Sembiring, the detention of the two KPK deputies was a legal matter being handled by police, KPK and the prosecutors that involved individuals.

"Therefore, the president stressed that the problem should be left to the legal procedure," the minister said.

He said the president would never meddle in the matter as he had no authority to interfere in it.

The president summoned a number of ministers and state officials on Friday to hear their explanations about the latest developments of the case involving suspended KPK deputies Bibit Samad Riyanto and Chandra Hamzah.

Sembiring said, at the meeting the president requested the Police chief to explain to the problems transparently to the public. In his response, Police Chief Gen Bambang Hendarso Danuri said the decision to detain the two KPK deputies was not made all of a sudden.

"The police chief said the process had been going on for four months. The police's reason (to detain them) was to smooth their investigation," the minister said.

On the occasion, according to Sembiring, the president asked all parties to keep in mind the supremacy of the law.

"The president gave us directives saying that he adhered to the supremacy of law . If the legal process in the police and then in prosecutors' office could not be continued (due to insufficient evidence, an SP3 (order to terminate the legal process) letter should be issued. But if the process continues it would be dealt with in court," he said.

Related terms: communications, investigation, law, legal, police, president