Jampidsus Followed By Densus 88: Big Question Mark Behind The Silent Attitude Of The National Police Chief And Attorney General

Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) at the Attorney General's Office, Febrie Adriansyah. (ANTARA/HO-Puspenkum Attorney General/aa)

JAKARTA The espionage action carried out by members of the Special Detachment (Densus) 88 against the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) has caused wild speculation. If left protracted, it is believed that public trust in law enforcement agencies will be even more eroded.

Military Police personnel guarding Jampidsus Febrie Adriansyah reportedly arrested one member of Densus 88. This happened after the Densus member stalked Jampidsus while having dinner at a restaurant in the Cipete area, South Jakarta, Sunday (26/5/2024).

Febrie arrived at the restaurant with an aide and a motorbike from the Military Police. He recently received military police control because Jampidsus was handling major corruption cases such as mining cases.

Until now, National Police Chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo and Attorney General ST Burhanuddin have not provided an official statement. However, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Hadi Tjahjanto only answered briefly, "perhaps the news is confusing".

Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) has observed allegations of tracking Jampidsus Febrie by members of Densus 88 some time ago. IPW suspects this espionage action is related to the alleged mining corruption case being handled.

As is known, Prosecutor Febrie is currently handling a mega corruption case in the tin commodity trading system in the Mining Business Permit (IUP) area of PT Timah Tbk in Bangka Belitung which cost the state Rp271 trillion.

Febrie has also previously investigated other corruption cases that have attracted public attention, such as the Jiwasraya, Asabri, Garuda Indonesia, and BTS Kominfo cases.

"Monitoring is a surveillance method to obtain information or data from those monitored, and Densus 88 has excellent ability to do that," said IPW Chairman Sugeng Teguh Santoso when contacted by VOI.

"It's a bit surprising that what was monitored was Jampidsus by Densus 88. This means that this is something serious. Densus 88 moved definitely on orders at the top level. Where is the level and whether it is official or not, what needs to be found out," he added.

Sugeng further said that there were two main issues behind this stalking. Apart from allegations of corruption, there is also a conflict in the authority to handle cases.

According to information obtained by IPW, the Attorney General's Office is quite intensively involved in handling mining cases. In fact, the mining case, said Sugeng, did not include the authority of the prosecutor's office.

"Mining cases are a criminal act that is under the authority of the Police, this is in the mining law. Not the domain of Jampidsus, but the Prosecutor's Office is working on it in terms of corruption," said the man who was born on April 13, 1966.

Not only triggering wild speculation, this case also has a long tail. Jampidsus Febrie was later reported to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for alleged state losses caused by the auction process of PT Gunung Bara Utama at the Attorney General's Office.

Civil Coalition Coordinator Saves Mine (KSST) Ronald Loblobly said indications of state losses reached Rp9 trillion.

Densus 88 members actually supervise and spy on potential terror attacks or other networks that threaten the public or the country. The action of Densus 88 members who stalked Jampidsus actually made the public wonder, according to police observer from the Institute for Security and Strategic (ISESS) Bambang Rukminto.

"Densus also does not have the authority to make arrests or non-terrorism investigations. Because the main task is indeed in eradicating terrorism, like that," said Bambang.

The same thing was also expressed by the Legal Lecturer of the Nusantara Islamic University, Dr. Leni Anggraeni, SH, MH. He considered that there was something very urgent so that Densus 88 was sent to follow Jampidsus Febrie. However, because the main task of Densus 88 is to check reports of terror activities, this espionage action cannot be justified.

"Densus 88 has exceeded its function, except if the prosecutor is involved in acts of terrorism," said Leni.

Seeing the attitude of the Attorney General and the National Police Chief who are silent in the midst of big questions from the public regarding this case is tantamount to allowing a wave of speculation to get wilder.

Leni hopes that the National Police Chief will immediately clarify the actions of his members in order to restore public trust.

"This is because currently the performance of the National Police is really being highlighted, and the public's confidence has begun to greatly decrease regarding several cases that occurred, especially when the community sought legal protection against the Police," he concluded.