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)