Dozens of police officers punished

Dozens of police officers punished

AMBON, Maluku: The provincial police office has over the past year punished 55 police officers for various offenses, Antara reported yesterday.

Police chief Col. Muchaer said military tribunals sentenced 37 of the offenders to prison terms ranging from four to six months. Two of them were also dismissed from the police force.

He said the office was currently preparing the dossiers of five other offenders, while the remaining 13 of the group have been given administrative punishments such as suspension.

"All of those punishments were meted out in order to teach the other police officers a lesson, and so that the community won't have a poor image of us," he said. "This is to tell the public that violations by police officers are not ignored".

The 55 constituted 1.6 percent of the 3,500 policemen in the province.

Muchaer will be replaced by Col. Tri Wibowo on March 1. (swe)