Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 07/21/2008 10:34 AM | National
The National Police have denied they allowed businesswoman Artalyta Suryani to contact state prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan from her cell at the National Police detention center.
"The police have no involvement in Artalyta's doings and it never gave her access to a cell phone inside the detention center," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Abubakar Nataprawira said in Jakarta on Saturday.
Abubakar said Artalyta had confessed to police that she had called Urip twice, on June 5 and June 10, from her detention cell using her daughter-in-law's cell phone.
In the June 10 taped conversation, the day before her trial, Artalyta told Urip to use the "private loan" defense instead of the "car repair shop" excuse when she referred to the US$660,000 in cash she had given him.
However, Abubakar said the police as a whole were not the ones to blame for the slip in protocol.
"There's been an act of negligence, but it comes down to the individuals -- the officers who were in charge at the time -- not the police as an institution," he said.
Abubakar also said the police were still questioning the officers at fault.
"Punishment imposed will be administrative, not criminal," he said, but refused to identify the suspects.
The police replaced last month their detention center head, but Abubakar said the decision had nothing to do with the Artalyta case.
National Police chief of legal affairs Insp. Gen. Aryanto Sutadi said the police had restricted the use of private communication devices inside detention cells and had ruled that any conversations conducted via cell phones be conducted under officer supervision.
However, he said of Artalyta's case: "Our officers did not adequately survey visitors. This teaches us a lesson -- we have to tighten our surveillance," he said.
He said there was a possibility the then-on-duty detention officers, who are mostly men, failed to conduct a body search of Artalyta's daughter-in-law out of respect.
"In the near future, the police will deploy more female officers to thoroughly inspect female visitors."
Legislator Ade Daud Nasution of the Crescent Star Party asked the KPK to search the National Police headquarters to prove that the police were making a "systematic effort to protect Artalyta."
The National Police have denied they allowed businesswoman Artalyta Suryani to contact state prosecutor Urip Tri Gunawan from her cell at the National Police detention center.
"The police have no involvement in Artalyta's doings and it never gave her access to a cell phone inside the detention center," National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Abubakar Nataprawira said in Jakarta on Saturday.
Abubakar said Artalyta had confessed to police that she had called Urip twice, on June 5 and June 10, from her detention cell using her daughter-in-law's cell phone.
In the June 10 taped conversation, the day before her trial, Artalyta told Urip to use the "private loan" defense instead of the "car repair shop" excuse when she referred to the US$660,000 in cash she had given him.
However, Abubakar said the police as a whole were not the ones to blame for the slip in protocol.
"There's been an act of negligence, but it comes down to the individuals -- the officers who were in charge at the time -- not the police as an institution," he said.
Abubakar also said the police were still questioning the officers at fault.
"Punishment imposed will be administrative, not criminal," he said, but refused to identify the suspects.
The police replaced last month their detention center head, but Abubakar said the decision had nothing to do with the Artalyta case.
National Police chief of legal affairs Insp. Gen. Aryanto Sutadi said the police had restricted the use of private communication devices inside detention cells and had ruled that any conversations conducted via cell phones be conducted under officer supervision.
However, he said of Artalyta's case: "Our officers did not adequately survey visitors. This teaches us a lesson -- we have to tighten our surveillance," he said.
He said there was a possibility the then-on-duty detention officers, who are mostly men, failed to conduct a body search of Artalyta's daughter-in-law out of respect.
"In the near future, the police will deploy more female officers to thoroughly inspect female visitors."
Legislator Ade Daud Nasution of the Crescent Star Party asked the KPK to search the National Police headquarters to prove that the police were making a "systematic effort to protect Artalyta."
