At least one judge is just

At least one judge is just

"To protect and serve", is the original motto of the American police that has been adapted by the Indonesian police. Therefore, it is quite hard to imagine how the police could let violence take place right under their noses in the police station.

A particular incident took place at a police station, involving a group of people claiming to be supporters/employees of businessman Tomy Winata and several reporters of Tempo weekly magazine.

The reporters were harassed and punched by Tomy's men in the presence of police officers. And when the case was brought to court, the court ruled in favor of the punchers.

On Monday, a judge at the Central Jakarta District Court ruled partially in favor of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in its law suit against the National Police chief over the (above) violence.

AJI demanded that the National Police apologize for having let the violence against the Tempo journalists occur. AJI also asked the court to issue a preservation order on the National Police headquarters, and for the Press law to be taught to all recruits at the Police Academy.

The judge only fulfilled AJI's demand that the police should make a public apology for allowing the violence to happen. Thumbs up for that.

The legal proceedings are not yet finished, though, and the police still have a chance to appeal. However, the judge's decision is very meaningful for justice in this country, as most judges are nothing but mere tools to oppress the media. The bottom line is that there is now legal recognition that the police made a mistake and thus need to apologize.

-- Koran Tempo, Jakarta