District chief okays pillory of criminals

District chief okays pillory of criminals

JAKARTA (JP): A district chief in South Sumatra said he fully
endorses the policy by village officials in his area to parade
criminals caught in the act around their villages before turning
them over to the police.

Muara Pinang District Chief A. Musni told Antara that many
village heads felt that subjecting criminals to public ridicule
is an effective means of reducing crime.

Musni confirmed that one such pillory took place last week in
the Lubuk Tanjung village.

The alleged criminal was a 23-year-old man caught red-handed
while trying to snatch the bag of a local woman. The young man
was shown around the villages and made to apologize for his
purported crime.

Afterwards, he was handed to the Muara Pinang police precinct.
"Hopefully the punishment meted out by the villagers will deter
others from doing the same," said Musni.

The state television station, TVRI, in cooperation with the
Attorney General's Office, at one time regularly broadcasted the
photos of convicted criminals to expose and embarrass them. The
program was dropped without any official explanation. (emb)