A motorcyclist in Jakarta felt the swift boot of justice, and thankfully nothing more severe than that, from a member of the president's security detail (Paspampres) when he and his rev-happy pals drove too close for comfort to the State Palace.
On Sunday, Feb. 21, a community of at least seven on sport motorcycles zoomed into what was reportedly a closed road just outside the Vice President's Office in the State Palace complex in Central Jakarta. Dashcam videos showed several Paspampres officers running out of their guard posts with one of them fly-kicking a motorcyclist. Another clip showed a Paspampres officer continuing to kick the same motorcyclist even though he was down on the sidewalk.
In one video, as the drivers were seen leaving the secured zone, one driver can be heard screaming in the direction of the Paspampres that he caught them kicking him on camera and that he was going to make the videos go viral.
True enough, the motorcyclists themselves uploaded the videos in an apparent bid to claim that their rights were violated by the Paspampres officers. However, that turned out to be a miscalculation on the motorcyclists' part as the Jakarta Metro Police soon summoned them for questioning over possible traffic law violations.
The motorcyclists have since apologized through their social media accounts and are set to undergo questioning with the Jakarta Metro Police today.
Paspampres assistant intelligence officer Wisnu Herlambang said the officers acted appropriately considering the asset they were protecting.
"They broke through ring 1 (high security zone) so we had to act. After they were interrogated it was clear they had no intention to harm, so it was settled then," Wisnu said today.
"There's no need for an apology. At the time of the incident they were already interrogated by our officers. We educated them. We gave them a warning."