Motorist extorted

Motorist extorted

Recently, at the corner of Jl. Laswi and Jl. RA Martadinata in
Bandung, my wife drove through a traffic light that turned orange
just as she entered the intersection and she was stopped by a
policeman. The policeman said that she had driven through a red
light. It did not matter that the light had just turned orange
and was not red when she made the turn. According to the
policeman, the fine was Rp 7,500, but she had to pay Rp 10,000 to
get her driver's license back.

Police corruption has long been a problem in Indonesia and
it's time something was done about it. Such corruption severely
undermines respect for the law. It is not possible to have any
respect for a police department whose officers extort money from
motorists for made up violations, and for the right price will
look the other way for real offenses. How can the people have any
respect for the law when those who enforce it will sell their
integrity for pocket change?

KEVIN J. DUNPHY

Bandung, West Java