Legal aid office attacked by graffiti vandals
Legal aid office attacked by graffiti vandals
JAKARTA (JP): The Director of the Jakarta branch of the Legal Aid Foundation Luhut Pangaribuan expressed concern yesterday at the obscene pictures and writing scrawled on two outside walls of the foundation's building at Jl. Diponegoro 74, Central Jakarta.
"The graffiti and the words here are not a form of vandalism done for fun by street kids. This was deliberate and clearly planned," Luhut said.
The obscenities and graffiti of male sex organs can be seen by anyone passing by the foundation building.
Luhut said that the perpetrators apparently came to the foundation headquarters between the security guards' rounds at midnight and 3 a.m on Thursday.
"We suspect that there must have been more than three persons involved, maybe as many as 10," Luhut said.
Luhut refused to name the people he suspects, saying that is the task of the police.
"Whoever they are, they must be people with sick minds," Luhut said.
Bambang Widjojanto, the Legal Aid Foundation's national operations director, reported the case to the Menteng, Central Jakarta, Police Chief Maj. Anis Angkawijaya on Thursday afternoon.
Maj. Anis told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the police will summon the foundation's two security guards for questioning on Monday.
"Actually I have been waiting for the two guards, but they have not shown up yet," Maj. Anis said.
He said that due to the vulgarity and offensiveness of graffiti, the police have asked the foundation to repaint the wall immediately.
Luhut said yesterday that the foundation will ask its employees, clients and other supporters to help clean up the walls on Monday.
"The foundation will not hire any workers to repaint the walls," Luhut said.
The defacing of the building is the last incident in a chain of mysterious threats and damage to property aimed at the Legal Aid Foundation's branch offices in Jakarta; Palembang, South Sumatra, and Bandung, West Java, over the last 10 days.
The first incident occurred in Palembang on Jan. 25, when unidentified men loosened the tire bolts on a car, owned by a lawyer from the local foundation office, while it was parked at the courthouse.
Another incident occurred at the South Jakarta District Court building on Jl. Ampera Raya on Jan. 30. Unidentified men poured acid over the hood of a car being used by the foundation lawyers and slashed all of its tires.
Another incident, involving the Bandung-based Nusantara Legal Aid organization, which is not affiliated to the foundation, happened in Bandung six days ago. Unidentified people broke the window of a car owned by Effendi Saman, a lawyer of Bandung-based Nusantara Legal Aid.
Effendi told reporters that his car stereo and other belongings were left untouched. (mas)