Police crackdown on porn VCDs gets mixed responses<\/p>\n
Asip A. Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
The newly appointed Yogyakarta police chief Brig. Gen. Yohanes
\nWahyu has hailed the recent police crackdown on pornographic VCDs
\nin the city as a success, despite a skeptical public response to
\nthe operation.<\/p>\n
Wahyu told a press conference at Yogyakarta police
\nheadquarters on Wednesday that police had arrested 52 owners of
\nvideo compact disc (VCD) rental houses for 'providing' their
\ncustomers with pornographic VCDs and confiscated 4,178
\npornographic VCDs during the operation.<\/p>\n
\"The suspects are now being questioned,\" he said, adding that
\npolice charged the suspects with violating the law on motion
\npictures No. 8 and Article 282 of the criminal code. These
\ncharges carry a maximum penalty of five years jail and a Rp 5
\nmillion fine.<\/p>\n
Wahyu said that the raid, codenamed \"Pasopati Operation\", was
\nconducted in response to Governor Hamengkubuwono X's order to
\npolice to deal with the pornographic VCDs circulating in
\nYogyakarta.<\/p>\n
The Governor said the police should be able to free Yogyakarta
\nfrom pornography; otherwise, parents would always be uneasy about
\nthe children.<\/p>\n
The number of VCD rentals has grown rapidly in Yogyakarta,
\ndubbed the \"City of Students\" in reference to the thousands of
\nstudents from across the country who study there.<\/p>\n
Police records indicate there are at least 165 VCD rental
\nfacilities, mostly located in Yogyakarta mayoralty and Sleman
\nregency, where the bulk of universities and schools are to be
\nfound.<\/p>\n
However, a reliable source told The Jakarta Post that there
\nwere more than 300 VCD rental businesses in the city.<\/p>\n
An owner of a VCD rental business on Jl. Kaliurang expressed
\nhis skepticism over the police's move, saying that they should
\narrest the suppliers rather than arresting VCD rental owners.<\/p>\n
\"If the police are really serious, they could easily
\ncatch the suppliers. They regularly come to my rental business
\nand others to offer new collections of pornographic products,\"
\nthe owner, who asked for anonymity, said.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think that the police operation is serious because
\nall the VCD rental owners pay police or military members to
\n(illicitly) back their business. Even rentals which never provide
\npornographic stuff still have to pay them for protection as most
\nof the VCDs are pirated products, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The \"backers\" always leak information about police plans to
\nraid VCD rental businesses. In this way we can hide our
\npornographic collections. Having the \"backers\" also guarantees
\nthat we won't be jailed for renting pornographic VCDs,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that \"backers\" usually helped VCD rental owners to
\navoid police custody whenever they were apprehended during an
\noperation.<\/p>\n
\"Of course we still have to bribe the police officers once we
\nare caught,\" he said, \"Each rental owner usually gives the police
\nbetween Rp 4 million and Rp 14 million whenever he or she is
\nnabbed.\"<\/p>\n
Another rental owner said that most of those involved in the
\nbusiness in Yogyakarta had pornographic collections. \"Police are
\naware of this.\"<\/p>\n
\"Rental businesses which do not provide their customers with
\npornographic pieces get between approximately Rp 300,000 and
\n500,000 per day, while those providing pornographic VCDs can earn
\nat least Rp 700,000 a day,\" said the businessman, who also
\nrequested anonymity.<\/p>\n
Sociologist Susetiawan from Gadjah Mada University also
\nexpressed his doubt over the police's maneuver. \"Everybody knows
\nthat most police officers are corrupt.\"<\/p>\n
\"Many are aware that such an operation is just like a reminder
\nto VCD rentals owners of their obligation to pay regular service
\nmoney to the police,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Susetiawan also suggested that the definition of pornography
\nbe reviewed. Without pornographic VCDs or video tapes, people
\ncould freely watch \"various pictures and movies\" on the Internet.
\n\"So what?\"<\/p>\n
In the future the government should give regular sex education
\nto teenagers in order to provide them with a better and proper
\nunderstanding of sex, he said.<\/p>\n
\"When they are mature enough in understanding sex, then we
\ndon't need to be worried about what the government calls
\npornography,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-crackdown-on-porn-vcds-gets-mixed-responses-1447893297",
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