'Unchecked thuggery could lead to organized crime'<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government should not turn a blind eye to rampant thuggery
\nand instead, should lead a national anti-hoodlumism movement, as
\nthuggery could lead to the emergence of organized crime, a
\npolitician and a criminologist have said.<\/p>\n
United Development Party of Reform (PPP Reformasi) executive
\nZaenal Ma'arif called on the president to start "a dramatic step
\nto eradicate thuggery practices".<\/p>\n
"There is no other way but a drastic action from the president
\nto use her authority (against thuggery practices)," he said,
\nreferring to the attack on the office and journalists of Tempo
\nweekly magazine by men working for notorious businessman Tomy
\nWinata.<\/p>\n
Zaenal described Tomy, a tycoon known for his close
\nassociation with high-ranking security officers and government
\nofficials, as "a mysterious man who is untouchable by law".<\/p>\n
The attack against Tempo revealed that organized thuggery
\npractices did exist in the country, and often under the consent
\nof high-ranking security officials, Zaenal told Antara.<\/p>\n
The Tempo incident has prompted community and national
\nleaders, including People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien
\nRais, to call upon the government to eradicate thuggery
\npractices.<\/p>\n
Senior journalists from various media organizations have also
\nlaunched a movement against thuggery, saying that if thuggery
\npractices were left unchecked, freedom of expression would
\neventually be undermined.<\/p>\n
Following mounting public pressure for the government and the
\nHouse of Representatives to act against thuggery, the House
\nCommission I on security and foreign affairs is scheduled to
\nconduct a hearing with National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar,
\nrepresentatives of Tempo, as well as Tomy Winata on Monday.<\/p>\n
Criminologist M. Mustafa at the University of Indonesia noted
\nthat thuggery practices had been expanding without resistance in
\nrecent years, he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday, adding that
\norganized hoodlums on the streets to large-scale gangs of thugs
\nwere available everywhere in the country.<\/p>\n
Large-scale thug organizations are usually involved in debt
\ncollection, prostitution rings, drug dealings and gambling dens.<\/p>\n
Worse, Mustafa said, the organized hoodlums had been growing
\nin number as they had established cooperation with security
\nofficers, bureaucrats and even politicians.<\/p>\n
Saying that such practices existed in almost all countries in
\nthe world, he called on the government to take firm steps against
\nthuggery, as it threatened the citizens' rights to protection.<\/p>\n
Mustafa warned that if they were not reigned in from now on,
\nthese thuggery practices could become "the embryo of organized
\ncrime".<\/p>\n
He said that thuggery groups paid security officers in order
\nto protect their often illegal businesses. Furthermore, these
\ngroups might even cooperate with government officials and
\npoliticians for additional business opportunities.<\/p>\n
The attack on Tempo magazine was not the first one committed
\nby men claiming to be sympathizers of Tomy. Last year, people
\nclaiming to represent Tomy threatened to burn down the office of
\nForum Keadilan magazine after the magazine ran a story
\nimplicating Tomy in connection with the drug business in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Last year, Tomy's Artha Graha Bank dispute with Indian firm
\nPolaris led to the detainment of Polaris chairman Arun Jain and
\nvice president Rajiv Malhotra. Both were released following
\nunrelenting pressure from the Indian government.<\/p>\n
The Tempo incident on March 8 started when some 200 people
\nclaiming to represent businessman Tomy Winata stormed the
\nmagazine's office, demanding it retract an article in its March 3
\nedition about Tomy's plan to renovate Tanah Abang Market before
\nit was gutted by a fire last month.<\/p>\n
Several of the protesters forced a Tempo journalist to reveal
\nthe source quoted in the article. As the journalist refused, they
\nthreatened him, saying that Tomy bought equipment for the police
\nand that he could easily buy the magazine.<\/p>\n
In the presence of policemen, one of the protesters hurled a
\ntissue box, injuring a journalist. They also assaulted the
\njournalist and chief editor Bambang Harymurti at the Central
\nJakarta Police station.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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