Arientha Primanita & Zaky Pawas – The Public Order Agency is again in hot water after two of its officers were arrested by police in Central Jakarta on Saturday morning for allegedly extorting two teenagers and forcing one of them to perform oral sex.
Effendi Anas, chief of the agency, also known as Satpol PP, said the accused officers, identified as Cipto Ariyanto, 26, and Suharyanto, 37, were currently being detained and interrogated by Gambir Police.
"They are a disgrace to the entire organization," Effendi told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday. "They have made a fatal mistake. They will most likely be fired."
Effendi said he would soon meet with the chief of the city's personnel agency to discuss action to be taken against the officers, who had been stationed at the National Monument (Monas) at Central Jakarta's Merdeka Square.
"I shall withdraw all Satpol PP officers assigned to Monas for re-evaluation. Once they have undergone the review, I will then decide who will be reassigned to Monas and who shall be transferred," Effendi said, adding that he would personally oversee the review.
Gambir Police chief detective Comr. Mustakim said the alleged offense took place at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, when both Cipto and Suharyanto were making their regular rounds at the monument.
He said the pair came upon two teenagers, a 16-year-old boy and 15-year-old girl, at the park and demanded they show them their identity cards.
The teenagers, however, only had letters stating that they were visitors from Cilacap, Central Java. The officers then allegedly intimidated them by saying they would have to be detained at the Kedoya shelter in West Jakarta, Mustakim said.
He said the teenagers were also ordered to run around Monas 10 times but had refused. The officers then reportedly told them they had to pay a fine, but the teenagers had only Rp 40,000 ($4.50) on them.
"Suharyanto then took the girl to the monument, saying that he wanted to take down her details. However, he then forced her to perform oral sex on him," Mustakim said, adding that the girl said she could not refuse because Suharyanto was threatening her.
After the incident, the girl was allowed to leave. In tears, she reportedly told an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver about her ordeal and he drove her to the Gambir Police station.
After the girl filed a report, Mustakim said the Satpol officers were arrested. "They admitted what they had done. They were not under the influence – they were not drunk," he said.
Suharyanto reportedly admitted to forcing the girl to perform oral sex on him because she was "quite pretty, according to Suharyanto," Mustakim said.
Police detectives seized Suharyanto's pants and T-shirt as evidence after traces of semen were found. Mustakim said Cipto would be charged with extortion, while Suharyanto would be charged with sexual assault. Both charges carry a maximum jail term of nine years.
Meanwhile, City Council Deputy Speaker Triwisaksana said the Jakarta Satpol PP chief should do everything in his power to guarantee that such an incident never occurred again.
"This is outrageous. They must be fired," he said. "The Satpol PP chief must impose heavy sanctions on these men. They were supposed to be working on improving their image, particularly after the Tanjung Priok riots."
The bloody unrest in North Jakarta on April 14 saw local residents clash violently with 1,750 Satpol PP officers who had attempted to clear buildings around the tomb of a respected 18th-century Muslim missionary located on disputed land. Three officers died in the clashes.
Azas Tigor Nainggolan, from the Jakarta Residents Forum (Fakta), urged Effendi to take more action over the incident. "The controls over assignment, performance and recruitment needs to be tightened," he said.
He said visiting hours to Monas had been limited to midnight since November, and yet people were still being allowed into the park after hours. "More lights must be added to Monas so that it can be safe," he added.