Mob justice increases as people lose faith in justice system
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Incidents of mob justice have become almost daily occurrences in Jakarta, as residents frustrated with a justice system that is seen as anything but just take the law into their own hands to mete out harsh punishments on suspected criminals.
The latest incident took place last Tuesday, in the Billymoon housing complex in Pondok Kelapa, East Jakarta. A group of residents mobbed to death Kristian, 35, and severely injured Arifin, 32 and Solihin, 28, after they found the three allegedly trying to rob a house.
This month alone, four similar mob attacks have taken place in the capital, all ending in fatalities. One of these incidents was instigated by a small quarrel between street vendors.
A simple accusatory cry against a person on the street is often enough to provoke a mob attack, regardless of the facts or evidence.
Ery Seda, a sociologist at the University of Indonesia, blames uncertainties in the norms and values prevailing in society today, coupled with political instability, for the recent rise in street justice.
"People continue to repeat such violent actions because there have been no sanctions (social or legal) or any actions to stop or prevent such acts from recurring," Ery told The Jakarta Post.
Ery said public distrust of the legal system, which has failed to punish criminals, has prompted the public to take the law into their own hands.
However, he warned that street justice must be stopped, because it posed a threat to social integration.
"People will become suspicious of each other and will judge each other. This situation will lead to social disintegration and chaos," Ery remarked.
Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, a criminologist at the University of Indonesia, associated "vigilante justice" with public frustration with the legal system.
"People turn (to vigilante justice) as an outlet for their overwhelming anger toward an unworkable legal system, especially with respect to the failure of the legal system to deal with high-profile cases," Harkristuti said.
The victims of mob violence, Harkristuti said, are simply replacement targets through which people are channeling their hatred for big criminals, including corruptors who were acquitted of all charges in legal proceedings that disregarded the public sense of justice.
Agreeing with Ery, Harkristuti said this mob violence had to be stopped before it did serious damage to society.
"This kind of action is unhealthy as it is prone to manipulation," said Harkristuti.
He remarked that groups could manipulate mobs to instigate violence against their rivals or to achieve their own interests.
And punishment without trial, Harkristuti said, ignores the idea of the presumption of innocence and the right of people to defend themselves in a court of law and receive a sentence in accordance with the law.
"Taking the law into your own hands through the use of violence is simply a crime and is against the law," said Harkristuti.
He said mob violence violated Article 170 of the Criminal Code, which carries at maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.
Commenting on a number of incidents in which the police appeared to be powerless to prevent mobs from killing alleged criminals, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam admitted officers often were outnumbered and powerless to help the victims of mob attacks.
"It has become characteristic for people to be easily instigated to violence," Anton said.
He added that the police also found it difficult to gather sufficient evidence and locate witnesses in order to arrest and try those involved in the mob attacks.
However, he said the police had arrested a number of people who had taken the law into their own hands.
"We took legal action against them as what they did was simply criminal," Anton told the Post, though he failed to say exactly how many such cases the police had handled.