LBH Jakarta criticises Begal-Hunting Team, says police are law enforcers, not a death squad or the Angel of Death

Jakarta, KOMPAS.com – The Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) has criticised the Metro Jaya Police’s formation of a Begal-Hunting Team, arguing it risks encouraging a repressive approach to street crime.

LBH Jakarta’s Director, Fadhil Alfathan, stressed that the police should continue to perform their primary function as law enforcers, not act outside due process.

‘They should be arrested and processed under the law, not killed. If they are killed, the police lose their main function as law enforcers. They become a death squad here, yes, like Izrail (the Angel of Death), not law enforcers,’ Fadhil said when contacted on Tuesday, 19 May 2026.

‘If there is a Begal-Hunting Team, and it is accompanied by a fearsome aura with hunters and so on, we fear there might be potential negative impacts,’ he added.

He referenced the experience of addressing street crime ahead of the 2018 Asian Games, which LBH Jakarta says resulted in fatalities.

In addition, Fadhil linked these concerns to the practice of the ‘Petrus’ operation— the so-called ‘Mysterious Shootings’—during the 1980s.

He stressed that the use of firearms by authorities should be a last resort and only when the situation truly threatens the lives of officers or the public.

‘Essentially, the use of force—in this case firearms—must be placed as a last resort, as a final option,’ he asserted.

On the other hand, he views the formation of a special unit like the Begal-Hunting Team as not a novel solution to the street crime problem.

He said that Metro Jaya Police have routinely deployed ‘Presisi’ patrols to curb brawls and mugging.

However, similar cases continue to recur.