ID card raids continue despite protests

ID card raids continue despite protests

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Despite the outcry from city residents, the public order agency
continued on Wednesday its controversial door-to-door identity
card (KTP) raids in Penjaringan district, North Jakarta,
arbitrarily arresting some 98 people, mostly low-income workers.

The 98 residents, including maids, baby-sitters, gardeners and
restaurant employees, were all taken to the district office,
where they were tried by Judge A.S. Pudjoharsoyo from the North
Jakarta District Court.

The judge allowed six to walk free after he saw their Jakarta
KTPs, and fined 78 people. The remaining 14 refused to go to the
court.

One of those released was Wong Yit Chan, a resident of Pluit
Apartments, who said that she was drying her family's clothes
when the officers came to arrest her.

She said she had a Jakarta KTP that had been issued by the
Jelambar subdistrict in West Jakarta. However, the officer forced
her to go to court, on a charge of failing to report her stay to
the local authorities within 14 days.

"I've already told the chief of the neighborhood that I would
be staying here for a while. I'm not a criminal and I already
have my West Jakarta KTP. It's ridiculous that they confiscated
my KTP and detained me," she said during her trial at the
district office.

The trials, which are normally open to the public, were closed
to reporters, as none was allowed to attend.

The arrested residents, as in the previous KTP trials, were
not informed what offenses they had committed.

"The judge did not explain my offense; they simply told me to
apply for a temporary KTP if I still wanted to work here", said
Sutrisno, a gardener who had come to Jakarta from Banyumas a year
ago. Sutrisno was fined Rp 20,500.

Sutrisno was arrested while he was cleaning his employer's
courtyard in a neighborhood of Penjaringan subdistrict.

Another resident, Christianto, steadfastly refused to be taken
to the district office as he said he had to work. However, the
officers forced him to go.

"I'm not an illegal resident, I have my KTP, although it is a
Tangerang one. I've already told the chief of the neighborhood
that I'm staying here," he said bitterly.

Christianto was later fined Rp, 15,000 after waiting for about
three hours.

During Tuesday's raids, which were aimed at discouraging
unskilled newcomers from coming to Jakarta, the officers acted
harshly and did not hesitate to use force.

The controversial KTP raids have been based on City Bylaw No.
1/2001, which says that every resident 17 years old and above
must have his own identity card.

Article 12 says that every guest and temporary resident is
obliged to report to the respective subdistrict office within 14
days of their arrival. After reporting, the office then issues a
letter confirming their status as a guest or issues a temporary
KTP.

Application of the regulations for commuters, who dwell in the
adjacent suburbs but work in Jakarta, was still unclear.

Deputy mayor of North Jakarta Pinondang Simanjuntak and Judge
Pontas from the North Jakarta district court said on Tuesday that
the commuters could be charged under the bylaw.

"They must have a temporary Jakarta KTP as they are working in
Jakarta. So they have to obey the city regulations", said Pontas.

In contrast, head of the city population agency Sylviana Murni
firmly stated that commuters holding Bekasi, Tangerang or Bogor
ID cards could not be charged under the city bylaw.

"An ID card is proof of someone's home address; if a commuter
can show his ID card when asked, he will not be charged. It is
clear for us that he lives outside Jakarta," she said.

In relation to the budget for the raids, Sylviana said that it
was part of the agency's routine expenditure, amounting to only
about Rp 100 million per year for all five mayoralties.

The costs were likely to jump, as each low-ranking public
order officer was paid Rp 20,000 per day during the raids. In
North Jakarta at least 372 officers were deployed in the raids
over two days.

The city public order agency has an operational budget of Rp
65 billion per year for the five mayoralties.