Hundreds netted in crackdown on hoodlums

Hundreds netted in crackdown on hoodlums

JAKARTA (JP): Top government officials made the most of strong
public support yesterday to take a major stride in their national
campaign to eradicate street hooliganism and restore the public's
sense of security.

Security forces in several major cities in Java rounded up
hundreds of alleged thugs, confiscating liquor and weapons which
have allegedly been used for criminal purposes.

The operation against hoodlums began after the murder of a
police officer in Jakarta's Blok M shopping center last week. The
campaign has received qualified support from the Indonesian Legal
Aid Institute.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. R. Hartono, Attorney General Singgih,
Chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council Sudomo, and Minister of
Justice Oetojo Oesman have all said, separately, that no hoodlums
should be spared.

Hartono, speaking in the South Sulawesi capital of
Ujungpandang, said that any army officers who gave protection to
street hoodlums would be severely punished.

"ABRI (the Armed Forces) leaders will not hesitate to fire any
of its members who provide support to street hoodlums," he was
quoted by Antara as saying.

Meanwhile, police in Bandung, West Java, announced yesterday
that out of more than 300 suspected thugs they have arrested over
the past four days, two are ABRI members.

Attorney General Singgih said that besides the current,
ongoing operation, the government should also seek other remedies
to the problem of street violence.

"The government should find out the root of the problem
because repressive measures such as this operation will not, on
their own, be sufficient to solve it," he said, after opening a
three-day conference on crime.

He said that social ills like unemployment and the widening
gulf between the rich and the poor are major factors in the
growth of street violence.

The problem is made worse by the actions of individual
officials and security officers who provide the hoodlums with
support, he added.

Unemployment

According to Admiral (ret) Sudomo, the root cause of the
problem is the high rate of unemployment.

"The government and the private sector must be able to create
jobs," Sudomo said recently at an Idul Fitri gathering at his
office.

Sudomo, a one-time chief of the powerful internal security
agency (Kopkamtib), said that in combating street crime the
government should not act like a fire brigade; acting only after
the event.

Justice Minister Oetojo Oesman attributed street crime to
problems flowing from the swelling populations of urban centers.

Limited job opportunities in the cities has forced many people
to turn to crime in order to survive, he said after opening a
seminar on the Marrakesh Agreement and its implications for
Indonesian law.

The director of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute, Luhut M.P.
Pangaribuan stressed that action taken against the hoodlums must
always be in accordance with the law.

"The court of justice should play the dominant role in efforts
to eliminate street gangs," Luhut said in a statement made
available to The Jakarta Post.

"We don't need to revive Petrus; we need to uphold the law,"
Sudomo said. Petrus was the systematic shooting of criminals in
the early 1980s.

Meanwhile, in Yogyakarta, the City Police announced yesterday
that they had caught 36 suspected hoodlums during a dawn raid on
Sunday.

"The police raid was part of the nationwide cleansing
operation to eliminate hoodlums," Chief of the Crime
Investigation Unit of the City Police, Capt. Suko Hariyanto,
said. (imn/29/pet)