No protection for Golkar cadres who break law: Harmoko

No protection for Golkar cadres who break law: Harmoko

JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of Golkar Harmoko has
said he will not protect any cadres or executives falling out of
line, directing them instead to court for trial.

Harmoko, who is also Minister of Information, said yesterday
after installing ranking officials at his office that Golkar
would not bail out its members involved in any form of crime, "be
it a regular member, a party cadre or a high-ranking government
official".

Harmoko was commenting on the arrest of Yor, chief of the
Jakarta chapter of a powerful youth organization affiliated to
Golkar, who was caught red-handed by police in a raid on a
gambling den in West Jakarta last Friday.

Yor, 43, holds prominence among the organization activists
because he concurrently also serves as a functionary of the
Jakarta chapter of the AMPI youth organization, the Jakarta
chapter of Golkar, chief of the Tourism Unit of the All
Indonesian Workers Organization and chairman of the Tourism
Entertainment Business Association.

Police said that Yor was caught along with six others while
playing rummy and macok (a card game) at around 9 p.m. in a
plywood storehouse on Jl. Daan Mogot, West Jakarta. The
storehouse was owned by Abidin, one of the suspects.

Police also sealed down the house and seized the cards, coins
and a sum of cash as evidence to be used in court.

Harmoko insisted that from the beginning Golkar has been
determined to safeguard law, order and security.

"Members of Golkar committing crime must be dealt with
according to proper legal procedures," he said.

He said everyone in Golkar, regardless of his or her
background, is equal to non-Golkar members in front of the law
and if a court ruling finds them guilty they should be punished.

But Harmoko did not explain whether he would suspend Yor from
Golkar and other organizations affiliated with the ruling party,
saying the decision was up to the Jakarta chapter of Golkar
office, where the suspect was registered as an executive.

Bail

In a related development, Lt. Col. Latief Rabar, a spokesman
for the City Police, said that Yor would remain in custody as
long as the investigation into his case had yet to be completed.

"He is still here. We haven't yet finished questioning
witnesses and now we are also investigating whether he has been
involved in any other crimes," Latief said.

Rumor circulated that Yor, an Irianese, had been released on
bail, an allegation denied by Latief.

Earlier, City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto said
there were many parties, including journalists, who demanded for
Yor's release on bail. Police are, however, reluctant to meet the
demand for several unspecified reasons.

Forum Keadilan weekly, carrying a brief interview with the
suspect, reported yesterday that Yor said his arrest was
politically-motivated because he was not gambling when police
raided the storehouse.

Yor acknowledged that the storehouse was formerly used as a
gambling den but he said that there was no more gambling
activities there after the Operation Cleansing team busted
gambling activities in the Lucky Plaza building, also in West
Jakarta.

More than 150 gamblers, including some foreigners, were
captured in the raid on the Lucky Plaza gambling den in May.

Yor, who holds a fearsome reputation among the public for his
group's alleged illicit activities, pledged that his men would
not take revenge against anyone for his arrest.

"Never such an reputation appeared. I try to play by the
rules," he said. (pwn/jsk)