Jakarta - Public support mounted Monday for two suspended deputy chiefs of an anti-corruption agency who were detained by the police for alleged involvement in a bribery case. Wearing black outfits or black ribbons tied on their arms, hundreds protested outside the headquarters of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) and the presidential palace in Jakarta, as well as in other cities on Java and Sumatra, witnesses said.
Police last week arrested Chandra Hamzah and Bibit Samad Riyanto, two of the KPK's four deputy chiefs, for alleged abuse of power and accepting bribes in a corruption case involving a businessman. Police said the two were detained for hampering investigations by talking to the media.
Anti-graft groups and public leaders claimed the move was part of a conspiracy within the police and the Attorney General's office to undermine the commission, which has the power to arrest and prosecute suspects.
In addition to the street rallies, more than 300,000 people joined a page on the internet networking site Facebook in support of Hamzah and Riyanto.
Responding to public outrage, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono agreed to an independent probe into the arrests, said Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs.
The new panel includes noted lawyers and law professors, headed by Adnan Buyung Nasution of the Presidential Advisory Board. Suyanto said it was expected to conclude the investigation within two weeks, but could be given more time if necessary.
Local media published transcripts of a wiretapped conversation allegedly between senior state prosecutors, police officers and the brother of the businessman subject to the commission's probe, in which they discussed an apparent plot to frame Hamzah and Riyanto.
Police named the two as suspects in September after receiving tips from the commission's chairman, Antasari Azhar - who now faces trial for allegedly orchestrating a murder - that there were irregularities in how the agency issues travel bans.
National police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri denied any friction between the two law enforcement agencies, saying that two witnesses told investigators that Hamzah and Riyanto received bribes from the businessman.
The anti-corruption commission was created in 2003 to tackle endemic graft with the power to arrest and prosecute suspects.
It has met with widespread public approval for a series of successful prosecutions against legislators, governors, former ministers, one prosecutor and central bank top officials, including an in-law of President Yudhoyono.
