Excessive investigation

Excessive investigation

About 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 9, 1999, a number of motorized
vehicles, including mine, were stopped by the police on Jl. Pos
Kota, Jakarta Kota. A policeman came to my car, offered a
handshake and then asked to check my identity card, my driver's
license and my license plate certificate. When all had been found
in correct order, the policeman made things difficult by asking
me irrelevant questions, including the identity of another
driver. Obviously, he was trying to find some fault with me.
Every time I turned on the interior light to look for the paper
he wanted to see, he asked my to turn it off. He also told me
that he took pity on the other drivers, a statement which I could
not make head nor tail of.

He kept telling me that I would be safe with him, rather than
having to deal with "the others". He put on a jacket to cover the
name on his uniform. He repeatedly said my name, which,
apparently, he had got from my identity card and my driver's
license, and said that he knew me before this raid. However, when
I asked him where he knew me from, he could not give me an
answer. Obviously, he was after a bribe from me and tried to
intimidate me by telling me he knew my address.

So I asked him in what context the raid had been conducted. He
said it was conducted in the run up to the upcoming General
Session of the People's Consultative Assembly. Because I felt
that this policeman's actions toward me were no longer tolerable,
I asked him what my error was. When he told me that he could not
find anything wrong, I started my car and drove away slowly,
therefore ending my conversation with him. And this policemen,
who is probably considered only an oknum, or an individual member
of the police force, did nothing to stop me.

Let me now call on the police to take action against these
oknum, who not only are shameless but also go beyond common
toleration. Obviously, these people will only further tarnish the
reputation of the police force, which is now already held in low
esteem by the public.

AMIR SIDHARTA

Jakarta