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When cops start shooting cops, who’s going to police the police?
Despite 20 years of reform efforts, the National Police continue to be one institution with a very strong esprit de corps, where the force regularly protects its own, especially in the top brass.
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Suspended internal affairs chief Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo arrives on Aug. 4 at the National Police's Criminal Investigation Department in Jakarta for questioning as a witness in the alleged shootout at his residence on July 8 that led to the death of Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat. (Antara/Aprillio Akbar)
D
espite some major developments in global and national politics, from the East Asian geopolitical tension to the political jockeying leading up to the 2024 presidential elections, in the past month, the Indonesian public has been keeping a watchful eye on the saga unfolding within the National Police institution.
For over one month now, members of the public have been glued to their television screen, scouring social media and going to the dark corners of the internet to find any clue, gossip or breadcrumb trails they could to find out about what really happened on July 8 at the house of the National Police chief of the internal affairs division (Propam) Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo.
How was it possible for a police officer who served as an aide to the Sambo family to be engaging in a shootout inside his boss’ official residence? Was he being shot for allegedly trying to sexually harass his boss’ wife or was there something more nefarious? Why did the police not immediately cordon off the scene of the crime right after the shootout?
It does not help that the Jakarta Police, who first handled the investigation, gave shifting accounts on what went down in Sambo’s house on that fateful evening. Early in the investigation, police could not even answer whether CCTV footage from Sambo’s house was still available or if the slain officer Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua served as a chauffeur for the family.
In recent days, speculation has been rife that Yosua was in fact executed in a mafia-style murder based on a report from a separate autopsy conducted in his hometown of Jambi.
Yosua’s family decided to lawyer up and ordered a separate autopsy after seeing so many irregularities involved in the handling of the slain officer’s body, including an order not to open the casket and the fact that dozens of police officers guarded the delivery of his remains.
Sensing that a cover-up could be in the works, only a few days after the fatal shootout President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo ordered a full and transparent investigation into the incident. The President repeated the call twice, during a meeting with the media in mid-July and during a visit to Rinca Island on July 21.
