Jakarta – Jakarta Police said that a 15-second video that depicts a police cruiser hitting a student protester and flinging him into the air was faked in an attempt to defame the institution, a spokesman says.
City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said Wednesday that the police were now trying to determine who uploaded the video to the Internet. "The video has been edited. The car indeed grazed a person but did not fling him into the air," Boy said.
The short video, which is widely available on the Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter sites, shows a police car slowing down on a city street. The police cruiser then sped away after students emerged and began throwing objects at the car.
Boy said it wasn't a hit-and-run incident. "The police officer was trying to save himself and the car from a mob," he added.
Boy said the video was recorded on June 24, 2008, during riots in Jakarta that followed an increase in fuel prices.
The police officer who drove the car, which was assigned the official number of 3024, was Saut Sihombing, an officer of the West Jakarta Police, Boy added.
Saut was on his way into a gas station in Semanggi, Central Jakarta, when his police cruiser was surrounded by protesters, Boy said.
"The car was hit by stones, while some Molotov cocktails were thrown but missed. The car's speed was 20 kilometers per hour," he said, while showing pictures of the police cruiser's broken windows.
Saut later admitted that he grazed someone with his police car, but it was done in self-defense, Boy said.
The victim was identified as Arpianto, 22, a student at Jambi's State Islamic University. Reports said the student was not injured badly and was taken to Jakarta Hospital in Central Jakarta and later moved to Christian University Hospital in Cawang, East Jakarta.
The government raised fuel prices by an average 28.7 percent per liter in May 2008. The price of premium gasoline was raised from Rp 4,500 (48 US cents) to Rp 6,000, diesel from Rp 4,300 to Rp 5,500 and kerosene from Rp 2,000 to Rp 2,500.
Rioters responded by destroying two cars outside the House of Representatives and Atma Jaya Catholic University, Central Jakarta.
Police later named five suspects in the brutal protests, who were alleged to have committed mass attacks and vandalism during the rallies. One of five, Joko Julianto, was later convicted of provoking the riot. There were no deaths reported.
"The case was closed. If the victim wants to appeal, we can start an investigation," Boy said. "It is up to the public to judge this incident," he added. (not)