Indonesia tapes show need for police, legal reform - activists

By Olivia Rondonuwu

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesians already have little faith in their police and courts, opinion polls show, but their trust may shrink even further after the airing on Tuesday of tapes revealing efforts to undermine the country's top graft-busters.

How Indonesia deals with the case will be a critical test of its commitment to reform.

The two officials, Bibit Samad Riyanto and Chandra Hamzah, have denied police allegations of bribery and abuse of power, and said the case was fabricated and they were wrongfully dismissed from their jobs.

In their defence, they submitted tapes to the Constitutional Court of conversations between a businessman and several people alleged to be in the police and the attorney-general's office, in which the various players discuss plans to undermine the KPK.

Thousands of Indonesians were glued to their television sets, at home and at work, as the tapes were broadcast live from the Constitutional Court, which was packed with journalists and spectators and surrounded by tight security.

After hearing the tapes, anti-corruption activists urged President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to conduct a complete shake-up of the police and attorney-general's office.

"The president should use this for a total reform of the police and the attorney-general's office. Not only the middle and lower levels, but also the top level," said Teten Masduki, secretary general of Transparency International Indonesia.

The overhaul "is needed, because if you look at this, do you think people can trust them?"