Nat'l Police Chief Hits Back at Claims Terror Plot Is Diversionary Hoax
Jakarta. National Police Chief Gen. Tito Karnavian has denied rumors that a planned terror attack on the State Palace was merely a diversion from the city's high profile blasphemy case involving the governor.
"Some have said it is a diversion in relation to the trial against [Jakarta Governor] Basuki ["Ahok"] Tjahaja Purnama. I firmly state that it was not engineered to divert any issues. I have been dealing with these cases since 1998," Tito said on Friday (16/12).
Members of the elite anti-terror unit Densus 88 are "police officers, not film directors," he added, saying the detained suspects are not actors and will face fair and open trials.
"These perpetrators are threatened with the death penalty, there is no diversion," Tito said.
Tito, a former Densus 88 chief, said officials had worked hard to prevent the attack.
"We saw something happened in Samarinda, Medan and Thamrin [street] in Jakarta. For me, as the chief of police, these cases have been unsatisfying in terms of intelligence," he said.
"If there is evidence that this is engineered, show me. I will take firm action. For me personally, if this is engineered, I am prepared to step down," Tito said.
He said police had been investigating the cell for months, culminating in the arrests and foiled terror attack on the State Palace which was planned for the popular Car Free Day last Sunday.
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