Five officials play their cards wrong
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post/Kupang
Five current and former officials in East Nusa Tenggara province picked up in a gambling raid by Kupang Police early on Friday were released without charge.
Kupang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Nugroho confirmed the raid, but would offer no further information. "We are still investigating the case."
According to police, the officials included an assistant to Governor Piet A. Tallo, JM Sitepu, whose house in Pasir Panjang district was allegedly used to host the gambling activities.
Also picked up during the raid were Col. (ret.) Julilis Silaen, a former military official in East Timor, former provincial councillor Col. (ret) S. Tarigan, an official at state insurance firm PT Jamsostek, Oloan, and Djulhan Sinambela, a high-ranking official at state electricity company PT PLN in Kupang.
During the raid, police confiscated Rp 12.9 million (US$1,290) in cash and 10 packs of playing cards.
A source said police suspected Sitepu's house was being used for gambling after a car was seen regularly dropping off and picking up people from the house until well after midnight.
"On the night of the raid, officers began staking out the house at 7:30 p.m. The raid took place 30 minutes after midnight," the source said.
The five officials were taken to the police station but were released without being charged.
When questioned, Sitepu confirmed the incident. "I reported (the incident) to the governor at 7 a.m. this (Friday) morning, saying that I am guilty. But we were not playing cards to gamble, but just for entertainment. Where can we find any entertainment around here?" he asked.
"We did play cards and bet money. The governor told me not to make the same mistake again," Sitepu said.
The deputy speaker of the East Nusa Tenggara provincial council, Kristo Blasin, has demanded the governor fire Sitepu and that police prosecute him.
"Everyone is the same under the law. This case should be a wake-up call for the governor, that he has officials out there behaving immorally. He (Sitepu) should be punished according to the law," he said.
The deputy speaker also warned the police not to try and sweep this incident under the rug to protect the officials.
"The main question is why are they not behind bars? Is it because they are officials? The police cannot give some people preferential treatment. When ordinary citizens are caught gambling they are put in jail, so why not these officials?"
Kupang Police chief Agus Nugroho said the five officials were not placed under arrest because while they were gambling, they were not involved in organizing or running a larger gambling operation involving people from outside their private circle.
"It would have been different had we found a gambling operator. Then we would have made arrests. But we did not find one," the officer said.
When contacted, Governor Piet A. Tallo said he was still looking into the matter. "We are not finished studying the case yet. I will comment once I learn more."