Farouk Arnaz – Activists from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute and other nongovernmental organizations are planning to submit a letter to the National Police today protesting the arrest and assault of two of the institute's legal counselors by the North Jakarta Police earlier in the week.
"The institute [known as LBH] is urging National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri to take firm action against his subordinates for professional misconduct [by detaining and assaulting the legal aid activists]," Hermawanto, head of advocacy at the institute, told reporters at the National Police headquarters on Wednesday.
Tommy Albert Tobing, a legal counselor working for the institute, and his assistant, M. Haris Barkah, a Shariah law student at Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic University, were arrested on Monday while they were assisting two witnesses in a murder case.
The two witnesses, identified as NW, 21, and WA, 14, were being questioned by police in relation to the murder of certain Fahri, 27, in Rorotan, Cilincing, North Jakarta in May.
At about 11 a.m., the two legal counselors asked police for permission to release the two witnesses because they had to go to school.
"Police refused to let the witnesses go and continued questioning them until well into the evening," Hermanto said. "A heated debate ensued and ended with the arrest of the counselors."
The activist said Tommy was punched in the mouth by the deputy of North Jakarta Police, Adjutant Comr. Santoso, while Haris was punched twice in the stomach by a police investigator identified as Robi.
Asfinawati, an LBH Jakarta director, was later treated roughly when she came to the police station to clarify the legal status of her colleagues, he said.
Comr. Roma Hutadjulu, head of the North Jakarta Police detective unit, said earlier this week that the counselors were arrested because they could not produce legal licenses.
"Both men [were] in [the custody of the North Jakarta Police] because they refused to answer questions without first being accompanied by their lawyers," said Hutadjulu, suggesting that the counselors had not been cooperative.
Hutadjulu also denied claims that police had punched Tommy and Haris, insisting that his officers were only trying to prevent the two from removing the witnesses before the interrogation was over.
The counselors were released at around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) condemned the incident and urged the National Police to investigate the incident thoroughly. "The YLBHI strongly condemns the incident and regrets the way police treated an underage witness," YLBHI chairman A Patra M. Zen said.