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