Anita Rachman, Jakarta – In a third headline-grabbing protest against Indonesian politicians in five days, a middle-aged man stormed into the House of Representatives in Jakarta on Tuesday to protest against alleged government corruption.
In yet another embarrassing security breach, Hendri, a 49-year-old man from Ogan Ilir district in South Sumatra, entered one of the main entrances to the House building at 12:30 p.m. and began to cry and scream hysterically.
Clutching a raft of documents, Hendri demanded to meet House Speaker Marzuki Ali.
He said that Mawardi Yahya, the head of Ogan Ilir, was yet to pay the bonus salaries for 6,000 teachers in the district ahead of the holy month of Ramadan and alleged that the politician had embezzled the money. He said Rp 18 billion ($2 million) was involved.
Hendri, who heads nongovernmental organization Mandiri (Independence), was then dragged from the building by a number of security officers and taken to a police post.
"I have already been to the Corruption Eradication Commission, but have had no response," he yelled as he was carried out of the building. "I am very disappointed and this is how I show my disappointment. I am angry about this."
Ruslan, a police officer, said Hendri would not be charged with any offense, saying police wished to demonstrate that there were mechanisms for laying complaints. He said he would pass the documents on to lawmakers.
Marzuki, meanwhile, said that Hendri had erred in selecting the House to air his grievances, saying it was the responsibility of other government agencies, not the House. He said the House only had three functions, namely passing legislation, monitoring and budgeting.
People should not place too high expectations on the House, he said. "Not everything can be solved here."
The House is still investigating how a hard-core pornographic Web site was screened across dozens of computer monitors inside the House for as long as 15 minutes on Monday. One theory is that the computer system was hacked in a protest against a proposed ministerial decree blocking pornographic Web sites.
On Friday, legislators and police backed away from pressing charges against veteran actor Pong Harjatmo, who was briefly arrested after he spray-painted the House roof of to protest against legislators who have failed to pass a single piece of legislation since they were elected to office.