Judge shocked to hear about illegal levies

Judge shocked to hear about illegal levies

JAKARTA (JP): The presiding judge at the Central Jakarta
District Court was shocked yesterday to hear about the rampant
corruption involving city security officers who victimized street
vendors.

Three defendants in the Tanah Abang riot case, told the court
that market security officers imposed illegal levies on them
every day or had confiscated their goods without producing
written orders.

The three defendants were on trial for their involvement in
the Jan. 27 riot at Tanah Abang, which resulted in two public
buildings being burned and six cars being damaged.

Judge Subardi was astonished when Ari Yanto, 21, Yafrizal, 24,
and Ade Komarudin, 24, said that they were forced to pay Rp 2,500
(US$1) on weekdays and Rp 3,000 on weekends, for what they said
the officers had called a "protection fee".

"Didn't they give you a ticket? Any payment to the government
must be done with the collecting officers producing a ticket or
legal proof," Subardi said.

"No," said the defendants, saying that they had no chance to
argue because the officers were very rude. "They threatened to
confiscate our goods if we refused to do what we were told," one
of the defendants said.

The judge said if the defendants' statements were true, he
would report the scandal to local authorities.

The defendants also said the reason behind public anger, which
led to the riot and arson, was because they had been prohibited
from doing business on the roadside by another group of city
officers.

"We were angry because the officers rudely told us to leave
the site. They even called us 'monkeys'," Yafrisal said.

He also said vendors had already paid the daily levies imposed
on them, but the officers still chased them away. If they
refused, the officers would have confiscated their goods, he
said.

"What would happen if they took your goods away?," Judge
Subardi asked.

All of them said that they had to pay Rp 20,000, otherwise
they would loose everything.

Subardi, who looked surprised by the response, said the
confiscations should have been done through legal procedures.

All of the defendants said they took part in the riot when
fellow vendors started to stone the municipal office and damage
cars.

The trial was adjourned until next week to hear the
prosecutor's sentence request. (12)