Criminologist deplores arson against buses<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The habit of the public to express its anger by
\nsetting city buses on fire recently shows that many members of
\nthe society have been influenced by the culture of violence, a
\ncriminologist has said.<\/p>\n
Johannes Sutoyo, head of the Criminology Department of the
\nUniversity of Indonesia, was quoted by Antara news agency as
\nsaying yesterday that the recent burning of Metro Mini buses by
\nangry passengers or the general public is just a small example of
\nthe tendency among our society to resort to violence to solve
\nproblems.<\/p>\n
In the past 10 days three Metro Mini buses and a bus of
\nanother transport company in the city have been burned by angry
\npassengers after they killed three road users and injured four
\nothers.<\/p>\n
This is the last series of road mishaps which involved Metro
\nMini buses. The most serious one took place last March when a
\nMetro Mini bus careened into a muddy North Jakarta river killing
\nits 33 passengers. The reckless driver, who escaped to his
\nhometown in North Sumatra, was only arrested last month.<\/p>\n
Johannes said that many members of our society seem to have
\nlost trust in the law enforcers and decided to take the law into
\ntheir own hands.<\/p>\n
\"We should put an end to this grim tendency by implementing
\nthe law. Otherwise the habit might develop into a more dangerous
\nsocial brutality where the people can be easily incited into
\nbreaking the law,\" said Johannes.<\/p>\n
Johannes said a heterogeneous society like Indonesia usually
\nhas great potential to provoke conflicts among people of
\ndifferent race, ethnic and religious groups.<\/p>\n
The criminologist also notices that the trend to idolize
\nviolence has been fashionable in Southeast Asia lately.<\/p>\n
Dominant<\/p>\n
\"History has also told us,\" he said, \"50 percent of the
\nvictims of war and domestic armed conflicts are from this
\nregion.\"<\/p>\n
This, according to Johannes, shows that the culture of
\nviolence is more dominant in Southeast Asia -- which includes
\nIndonesia -- than in advanced countries.<\/p>\n
\"We should have an effective strategy to put an end to this
\nhabit step by step.\"<\/p>\n
In order to achieve the goal, he said, the authorities should
\njump forward to advocate the supremacy of law by introducing a
\nquick and fair legal processes.<\/p>\n
\"As long as the legal system is not fully functional many
\npeople will tend to take law into their own hands,\" he said. He
\nadded that \"as long as we do not have such a concept, arson
\nagainst public transportation, or brutal riots protesting
\nextravagant musical shows, like the ones which have happened in
\nthe past, will repeat themselves.<\/p>\n
\"It would be even unhealthier if our people have started to
\nbelieve that the only correct and quick way to have justice is
\nthrough violence.<\/p>\n
\"They seem to ignore the truth that by resorting to violence
\nthey will only create problems, not solve them,\" Johannes said.
\n(tis)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/criminologist-deplores-arson-against-buses-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}