Commission III Warns Police Chief Following Drug-Linked Officers and Child Death Cases
Commission III member Hinca Pandjaitan has issued a stern warning to National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo following a string of cases involving police officers linked to drug trafficking and a suspected fatal assault.
Hinca highlighted several cases, ranging from alleged drug distribution involving the Bima Kota Police Chief in West Nusa Tenggara to the assault that killed a 14-year-old student in Tual City, Maluku.
“I believe Commission III is issuing a very strong reminder to the National Police institution today because these incidents have occurred one after another,” Hinca said at the Parliamentary Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Monday (23/2).
Hinca called on the Police Chief to take firm action and explain to the public regarding the drug and murder cases involving members of the police force.
According to Hinca, these cases represent a cultural reality within the police institution that can no longer be denied.
The Democrat Party politician said he would give the Police Chief one month to carry out reforms within the National Police.
“Investigate swiftly in accordance with proper mechanisms, then prosecute according to the mechanisms and rules of the game,” he said.
A number of police officers are currently embroiled in drug trafficking cases. They are even suspected of receiving money from drug lords.
At least two members of the police force have come under the spotlight in drug-related cases: former Bima Kota Police Chief Senior Commissioner Didik Putra Kuncoro and the Head of the Narcotics Unit at the North Toraja Police, Commissioner Arifan Efendi.
Commissioner Arifan Efendi has already been named a suspect and is alleged to have received weekly payments of Rp13 million from a methamphetamine dealer identified by the initials ET alias O.
Meanwhile, Mobile Brigade member First Constable Masias Siahaya has been named a suspect after allegedly assaulting a madrasah student identified as AT (14) to death in Tual City, Maluku.
First Constable Masias has been designated a suspect at the Tual Police and was immediately detained at the Tual Police detention facility following a case review on Friday evening (20/2).
Police Chief orders severe punishment
Meanwhile, National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo has instructed his subordinates to impose the harshest possible punishment on the Mobile Brigade member suspected of fatally assaulting the student in Maluku.
“Yes, I have ordered that the most severe action be taken,” Sigit said in Majalengka, West Java, on Monday (23/2).
Sigit also said he had instructed the Maluku Regional Police Chief and the Head of the Professional and Security Division to thoroughly investigate the case.
According to Sigit, firm and severe punishment is necessary to deliver a sense of justice for the victim.
“I have ordered the Regional Police Chief and the Head of the Professional and Security Division to take firm action and process the case thoroughly. Deliver a sense of justice for the victim’s family,” he said.