German who gave finger to bureaucrat freed

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

It has become a common experience for Jakarta motorists to end up stuck in a traffic jam caused by official, police-escorted motorcades.

However, few are aware that only the president and visiting heads of state have the privilege of such motorcades.

Fire trucks, ambulances, hearses and the vehicles of law enforcement officers on duty are also allowed unhindered passage, but not most do not realize that either, or do not care.

German citizen Robert Massmeyer, 70, was driving down Jl. Jend. Sudirman on Thursday when he was ordered to pull over by police escorting a convoy of cars carrying Coordinating Minister for Security and Political Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his entourage.

The top security minister was heading to his office on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, Central Jakarta.

Massmeyer allegedly extended his middle finger in the direction of police and the motorcade. It is believed he was not trying to teach Susilo how to count to one in German. He later attempted to evade arrest, including by fending police off with an umbrella in the parking lot of the famed Hotel Indonesia.

However, Jakarta Police Headquarters released him on Friday and decided not to proceed with charges for violating Article 216 of the Criminal Code for failing to follow instructions from law enforcers, which carries a maximum sentence of 18 weeks in jail.

Instead, police charged him with a minor traffic violation.

"We found that he didn't have the intention (to obstruct Susilo's motorcade). However, his drivers' license expired in 2002 and is yet to be renewed. We ticketed him for that.

"Moreover, he is also too old (to drive a car)," Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara said on Friday.

"Who said that we have been detaining him. We only took him to the headquarters to question him. We could not interrogate him on the street, right?" he said.

Commenting on his injuries to his forehead, hands and knees, Massmeyer, a resident of Villa Duta, Bogor, told reporters that he had been pushed down by the policemen in the parking lot. Police say he stumbled himself when trying to flee.

"They pushed me ... I don't know why they treat me like a criminal," he said.

Massmeyer said he ignored the siren and the order to pull over because he believed he had done nothing wrong.

"I was driving in the right road lane. But I reduced the speed of my car," he said.

Massmeyer in fact claimed to be an advocate for safe driving.

In the rear window of his car is a clipping taken from The Jakarta Post showing a bus crash and a large sign saying "No 100 kph".