"Yesterday, the police chief said he will need six months. I said, within three months, the technical team can reveal it," the president stated at the State Palace here on Friday.
Earlier, on Thursday, the TPF, formed to probe the attack on Baswedan, a senior investigator of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), had recommended the police chief to conduct investigation against three individuals allegedly linked to the case and establish a technical team having specific capability.
Indonesian Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian has formed the technical team in line with the recommendation of the TPF, a six-month working period team led by Chief of the Indonesian Police Investigation Unit Comm. Gen. Idham Azis.
The technical team, with all its members constituting police personnel, will follow up on recommendations of the TPF on Baswedan's case.
The president has also expressed hope that the team would continue with the investigation conducted by the TPF.
"I want to laud the fact finding team that has conveyed the result of its investigation, and this outcome must be followed up by the technical team. We hope that the findings would lead to the unraveling of the case," he remarked.
Jokowi admitted that Baswedan's attack case was not a complicated one and would take time to solve it.
"This is not an easy case. If this was an easy case, we could have solved it in two days," he noted.
The president confirmed he would evaluate the technical team's work after three months.
"I give them three months, and later, I will personally look into the result. Do not always ask me (about the case), it is the police chief's task," the president reiterated.
Baswedan was attacked by two motorcyclists on April 11, 2017, while walking home after performing the dawn prayer at Al-Ihsan Mosque, not far from his residence.
The attackers hurled acid on Baswedan's face and eyes, thereby resulting in severe damage to his left eye.
The Jakarta Police, in early 2018, had released sketches of the suspects, but no clue was yet in sight.
On January 8, 2019, Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian had established a TPF to investigate the case. The 65-member team comprises 52 police personnel, six personnel of the KPK, and seven experts outside the police institution.
The team has a six-month working period, but until the end of its term on July 9, it had yet to disclose the mastermind of the attack.
The team only revealed six high-profile cases handled by Baswedan, allegedly linked to the attack. The six cases are the e-ID corruption case involving former House speaker Setya Novanto, a bribery case involving former chairman of the Constitutional Court (MK) Akil Mochtar, a bribery case involving former secretary general of the Supreme Court (MA) Nurhadi, a bribery case involving former district head of Buol Amran Batalipu, a corruption case involving construction of an athletic hostel, and a swallow nest theft case.
Translator: Desca Lidya N, Sri Haryati
Editor: Bambang Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
