Well-known Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator Novel Baswedan has filed a pretrial motion after he was arrested last week in relation to a ten-year-old legal case.

Lawyers for Novel filed their legal challenge at the South Jakarta District Court, which made headlines in February when judge Sarpin Rizaldi, examining a similar motion, ruled in favor of Comr. Gen. Budi Gunawan, a former National Police chief candidate who had been named a suspect by the KPK for allegedly receiving bribes.

National Police detectives arrested Novel on Friday in connection with a case that has all the hallmarks of having been dug up to settle an old score.

The KPK investigator, a former policeman, has been accused of involvement in the death of an alleged thief in 2004 in Bengkulu. Novel has denied involvement and the family of the deceased has said the case was settled long ago and that they wouldn’t want it to be reopened.

Police targeted Novel years ago when he was zeroing in on the head of the National Police’s traffic division, Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo. But Novel emerged victorious and Djoko was jailed for 18 years over the graft-ridden procurement of driving simulators.

Is the current investigation against Novel payback time or real concern for justice?

Judge Sarpin ruled that the KPK did not have the authority to investigate Budi, and it still remains to be seen whether the ‘Sarpin Effect’ can also work in favor of Novel. More importantly, however, President Joko Widodo should find a way to end the KPK vs. police saga once and for all.

Joko did the right thing by asking the police to release Novel, but a structural solution is needed — one that ensures that both the police and the KPK can do properly carry out their important task.

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Source: The Jakarta Globe