JAKARTA - Benydictus Siumlala Martin laughed in response to our question about the 'Taliban' issue at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). So absurd, the issue was almost considered a joke. But it's also annoying considering that joke is the basis for the dismissal of many KPK employees today. Especially Beny Catholic. He's a 'Cross'. Not the 'Taliban.
"It was said that the KPK had to get rid of the 75 Taliban earlier. Meanwhile, myself, I am a Catholic," said Beny - his familiar greeting, in an interview with VOI, some time ago.
Beny, in the interview also revealed that inter-religious life is not only full of tolerance but also harmony in the KPK. With such a life, Beny believes that all worrying assumptions about certain religious radicalism in the KPK are unfounded. If the KPK is controlled by the 'Taliban', how is it possible that the 'crusaders' can live?
"Yes. (Laughter) There are some friends who say the Cross. So from there it just doesn't match, that's it... Then people, employees who are religious other than Muslims are also facilitated, "said Beny.
"We have an Ecumenical gathering for Christians and Catholics. The Catholics also go to the church on the first Friday, sis, on Jalan Latuharhary there. So I don't think there is a problem with religion."
"If you say that friends at the KPK are radical, radical in eradicating corruption, yes. But if you are radical then it leads to right-wing extremism or something like that, it doesn't feel like it."
The issue of the Taliban is kept buzzer, used by FirliComplementing Beny, the Chairman of the KPK Employee Forum, Yudi Purnomo, who was met by VOI also said so. From his eyes, the person who oversees the KPK employees with religious, ethnic and racial backgrounds, "tolerance is not a new thing at the KPK."
Yudi said the issue of the Taliban was nothing more than a narrative that was deliberately constructed for the purpose of paralyzing efforts to eradicate corruption. The issue was built by buzzers and exploited by parties involved in malicious conspiracy.
"So these issues are only issued by buzzers, right. Even yesterday I saw PGI, the Indonesian Church Association, the chairman was supportive because they understood that this was an attempt to weaken the KPK, but it was also attacked by buzzers," said Yudi
I do not know who is behind the buzzers who deliberately maintain the issue of Taliban radicalism in the KPK. What is clear is that the chairman of the KPK, Firli Bahuri, took advantage of the issue. On April 29, there was a meeting between KPK leaders in the main meeting room on the 15th floor of the Red and White Building. During the meeting, Firli asked 75 employees who did not pass the TWK to be dismissed immediately.
Quoted from the results of the Indonesia Leaks investigation published in the Sunday edition of Tempo Magazine, June 6, Firli even mentioned June 1 as the deadline for dismissal. KPK Deputy Chairman Nawawi Pomolango supported Firli and asked his subordinates to immediately execute the order.
But an official from the Law Bureau asked Firli and Nawawi to consider it. The official considered Firli and Nawawi's ideas vulnerable to being sued by the State Administrative Court (PTUN). The official suggested that employees who did not pass the TWK should still be given the opportunity through education and training.
According to an Indonesian Leaks source, Firli refused. He is firm in his decision. "Wow, you can't. They must be dismissed on June 1. Or we ask them to resign," an Indonesian Leaks source imitated Firli's words.
Firli's intention to get rid of the employees in 'List 75' had actually been seen from the start. Precisely when drafting regulations governing the transfer of status of KPK employees. After the issuance of Government Regulation Number 41 of 2020 concerning the Transfer of KPK Employees to ASN in July 2020, the KPK held a number of discussions with legal experts and bureaucrats from various institutions.
The discussion took place from September to December 2020. During that time there was never any idea about TWK. As for the nonsense about the test, it only mentions the assessment. It was at that meeting that Firli ordered the KPK Legal Bureau to include the TWK article in the draft regulation. Firli argues that there is radicalism that must be dealt with.
"Did you forget? There are many 'Taliban' here," said Firli.
TWK then appeared suddenly in the January 22 version of the draft commission rules. The substance is considered odd because it did not go through a special discussion meeting. The draft changed again in the January 25 version. In that version, TWK is stated in Article 5 Paragraph 1. It is stated that TWK is organized by the KPK together with the State Civil Service Agency (BKN).
Since then there has been no harmonization. It was reported that Firli himself brought the draft to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkum HAM) for promulgation. This is considered unusual because before it was promulgated, the draft should have been discussed through harmonization, which at least involved structural employees at the level of the Legal Bureau and the Bureau of Human Resources.
On January 27, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights officially legitimized KPK Regulation Number 1 of 2021 which included the TWK article. Menkum HAM Yasonna Laoly only answered "Ask later, yes," when asked for clarification.
[INTERVIU: Law | Chairman of the KPK Employee Forum Yudi Purnomo on How TWK Disrupts Handling of Corruption Cases]
Where did the Taliban accusations come from?The Taliban is an Islamic fundamentalist group that controlled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. Historically, the Taliban was formed in the 1990s by Afghan mujahideen or Islamic insurgents who fought the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1970-1989).
This movement was dominated by Pashtuns who later became known as radical and militant. However, their movement often commits human rights violations in Afghanistan. The common thread between the Afghan Taliban and the KPK Taliban is militancy. The term was first coined by the Chairman of Indonesia Police Watch, Neta S. Pane in 2009.
At that time, Neta commented on an open letter from 50 Indonesian Police investigators who served at the KPK. They – police investigators – questioned the appointment of 21 investigators who became independent investigators at the institution. For this reason, Neta wrote that the KPK was divided into two camps, namely the Indian Police and the Taliban group.
“Indian police refer to KPK investigators who come from the police institution. Meanwhile, the Taliban group referred to the investigator Novel Baswedan who was supported by the KPK Employee Forum. This group, mentioned in the letter, is also considered militant because it often questions the leader's policies," said Linda Trianita, Anton Aprianto and Mustafa Silalahi in their article in Tempo Magazine entitled Taliban in the Selection of KPK Leaders (2019).
The issue of the Taliban is getting worse through the confession of a number of lawyers - who often handle cases at the KPK - who admit to hearing the term there is a Taliban stronghold in the KPK. The Taliban stronghold is associated with those who always handle cases with big names. Novel Baswedan's name is one of them, who is associated with conservative Islamic groups only because he has a thick beard and often wears a robe.
The issue of Taliban radicalism has also been complained of by law enforcers at the KPK as a way for the selection committee to thwart Novel Baswedan's move to lead the KPK. At that time, the selection committee collaborated with the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) and the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) to trace the track records of the candidates for the KPK leadership.
The selection committee said it was done to avoid the candidates who were elected were those who were exposed to radicalism. It is feared that this understanding will weaken the conditions at the KPK. Recently, the issue of the Taliban has shocked the virtual world, especially Twitter.
The issue developed rapidly as a form of efforts to weaken the KPK. The weakening of the KPK has taught the public that social media is easily hijacked by the oligarchic elite through cyber troops and computational propaganda. As revealed by Drone Emprit (DE) Founder, Ismail Fahmi.
Based on DE's research, the KPK's weakening movement was supported by the presence of massive cyber forces carrying out attacks against the movement against revisions. The debilitating hashtags, among others, read that the KPK is #KPKdanTaliban, #KPKPatuh Rules, #KPKCengeng and so on.
“The Taliban KPK hashtag has succeeded in making the public doubt the KPK and suspect the anti-corruption agency as a hotbed of radicalism. In his description, DE concluded that the movement of academics who carried out Twitter campaigns sporadically was defeated by the much more massive and systematic hashtag of the Taliban KPK. This makes DE conclude that there is a phenomenon of the death of expertise, aka the death of expertise," concluded Widjayanto DKK in the book Saving Democracy (2020).
*Read other information about the KPK or read other interesting articles from Detha Arya Tifada, Wardhany Tsa Tsia and Yudhistira Mahabharata.
Other BERNASThe English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
