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)