'Defiant' police officer goes on hunger strike
'Defiant' police officer goes on hunger strike
JAKARTA (JP): One of eight police officers being detained by
National Police on charges of insubordination, has gone on a
hunger strike because of unfair treatment, one of the officers'
40 lawyers said on Wednesday.
Lawyer Suci Madio said the officer, Adj. Sr. Comr. Herman
Kotto started his hunger strike on Tuesday morning. He is being
detained with his colleagues at Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob)
Headquarters in Kelapa Dua, south of Jakarta.
"Herman is protesting the unfair treatment that he and his
colleagues are receiving from the National Police," Suci told The
Jakarta Post.
He said his client was earlier promised that he would be
questioned over insubordination charges in a hall at National
Police Headquarters in South Jakarta.
However, Herman, along with his six colleagues, was arrested
after he arrived at police headquarters on July 25 and has been
detained in a detention center at the Brimob headquarters with
other suspects charged with general crimes.
One other officer, Sr. Comr. Alfons Loemau, who refused to
appear for questioning, was arrested at his house in Pondok Karya
police housing complex, South Jakarta, on the following day.
The lawyer revealed that Herman, who was examined by a medical
doctor when his lawyers visited him on Tuesday evening, was weak.
Besides Herman and Alfons, the other six officers being
detained are Sr. Comr. Bambang Widodo, Sr. Comr. Parlindungan
Sinaga, Sr. Comr. Nurdin Umar, Sr. Comr. Badaruzzaman Haidir, Sr.
Comr. Banjar Nahor and Sr. Comr. Salihin.
Alfons and Badaruzzaman were rushed from the Brimob detention
center to Kramat Jati Police Hospital on Tuesday, suffering from
typhoid and a high fever respectively.
Alfons, through his lawyers, filed a lawsuit at the South
Jakarta District Court on Monday against National Police Chief
Gen. Surojo Bimantoro, rejecting the arrest and detention.
Separately, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi
confirmed Herman's hunger strike but refused to provide further
details.
"The doctor will examine him, but we don't want the strike
issue to be blown out of proportion," Didi told the Post on
Wednesday, adding that the suspect was under "police legal
supervision".
He suggested that the issue had been blown out of proportion
by lawyers to achieve a political aim.
"It (the negative reports) are counterproductive to our
supervision of the officers," Didi said.
The eight officers allegedly led some 150 middle-ranking
police officers to stage a revolt against Bimantoro on July 9
after he refused to hand over his post to Gen. Chaeruddin Ismail.
They had declared the police chief disobedient and demanded
that he comply with presidential orders, issued by then president
Abdurrahman Wahid, to vacate his post. (jun)