Obstruction Of Justice Facts Get Stronger In Brigadier J's Murder Case, 35 Police Violate The Code Of Ethics, Will Anyone Be Criminalized?

JAKARTA - It is increasingly clear that there are allegations of obstruction of justice in the case of the premeditated murder of Brigadier Yosua Hutabarat alias Brigadier J. On the other hand, 35 police officers from mid-level to high-ranking officers were declared to have violated the code of ethics because they were unprofessional in handling the case of Brigadier J. Will there be a suspect?

Komnas HAM (National Commission on Human Rights) commissioner, Choirul Anam previously said there were strong indications of obstruction of justice or efforts to hinder law enforcement at the official residence of Inspector General Ferdy Sambo at the Duren Tiga Police Complex, South Jakarta.

"From the beginning, we said there were strong indications of obstruction of justice, when we checked the crime scene the indications were getting stronger," he said, Monday, August 15.

Anam said when checking the crime scene, the team from Komnas HAM was also accompanied directly by Inafis, the National Police Dokkes, and the National Police Forensic Laboratory.

The team from Komnas HAM also asked several questions, one of which was about the angle of fire in the official house of the former Head of the Profession and Security Division of Police, Inspector General of Police, Ferdy Sambo, who had been named a suspect in the case of the death of Brigadier J.

Komnas HAM also appreciates the open nature of the National Police for providing the widest possible access and information to the Komnas HAM team.

Meanwhile, the National Police stated that members who violated the code of ethics in the process of handling the investigation into the murder of Brigadier J continued to increase. It was noted that 35 members had been declared unprofessional in handling the case of Brigadier J.

"Yes, that's right, this information from Itsus (35 violates the code of ethics, ed)," said the Head of the Public Relations Division of the National Police Inspector General Dedi Prasetyo when confirmed, Monday, August 15.

This number was determined after the determination of five Metro Jaya Police investigators who were deemed to have violated the law.

Dozens of these members are strongly suspected of being unprofessional by eliminating evidence. One of them is CCTV footage which is referred to as a key witness.

Inspector General Dedi explained that there were 63 police officers under investigation. They are suspected of being involved in a series of premeditated murders against Brigadier J.

"A total of 63 people have been examined temporarily," said Dedi.

In this case, 16 members of the National Police were placed in a special place. 10 of them are in Provos and the rest are at the Mobile Brigade Headquarters, Kelapa Dua, Depok.

Meanwhile, in the case of Brigadier J's murder, four people were named as suspects, namely Inspector General Ferdy Sambo, Bharada RE, Bripka RR, and Strong Maruf.

Can Be Criminally Charged

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD previously said that the alleged decision to take a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) camera decoder related to the murder of Brigadier J and the mastermind behind the murder of the former Head of the Profession and Security Division of the National Police, Inspector General Ferdy Sambo, could be punished.

"You can go both ways. Formal law is a crystallization of morals and ethics, so taking CCTV can violate ethics because it is not careful or unprofessional and at the same time can be a criminal offense due to obstruction of justice and others," he told reporters, Sunday, August 7.

Mahfud reiterated that the alleged violation of ethics committed by Inspector General Sambo could go hand in hand with criminal allegations if proven guilty.

Because, continued Mahfud, ethical sanctions are not decided by the panel of judges. So that ethical violations can be dealt with together with a criminal.

"Yes, because ethical sanctions are not decided by judges and are not criminal penalties but administrative sanctions such as dismissal, demotion, reprimand, etc. While criminal justice is decided by judges whose punishment is criminal sanctions such as imprisonment, death penalty, seizure of property proceeds of crime, and so on," he said.

The promise of Criminal Investigation

Head of Criminal Investigation Unit (Kabareskrim) Komjen (Commissioner General) Agus Andrianto confirmed that the CCTV issue which was said to be damaged/dead at the house of Inspector General Ferdy Sambo was still being investigated regarding the mystery of the murder of Brigadier Yosua Hutabarat or Brigadier J. Strict action will be applied to members found to have obstructed the investigation of Brigadier J's case.

"What is clear is that our colleagues know that there is a broken CCTV that was taken at the time at the security guard and that we have also investigated and we have found out how the retrieval process is and who took it, we have also carried out an inspection and now, of course, we will carry out the next process," he said. Kabareskrim Komjen Agus Andrianto during a press conference on the progress of handling the case of Brigadier J's murder at the National Police Headquarters, Thursday, August 4.

"Of course, the obstacle to the effort to prove is the existence of damaged or omitted evidence so that it takes time to fully reveal this case," continued Komjen Agus.

Regarding the process of handling the killing of Brigadier J, Kabareskrim said the National Police team worked thoroughly, including the alleged involvement of other parties in the killing of Brigadier J.

"Later on, if there is a process of finding criminal violations rather than the actions carried out, whether it is obstructing the investigation process, eliminating evidence, hiding evidence so that it hinders the investigation process, later after undergoing the process of examining the code of ethics, the recommendation from Mr. Irwasum will later be used as the basis. Do we need to increase their status to become part of the perpetrators," said Komjen Agus.