Officer may be fired for assault

Officer may be fired for assault

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Bogor/Bandung

Bogor Police chief Sr. Comr. Bambang Wasgito may be removed from
his post if he is proven to have assaulted his subordinate Adj.
First Insp. Wawan Setiawan, the intelligence and security unit
head of North Bogor Police sub-precinct, a police spokesman says.

Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo said on Monday
that the National Police Internal Affairs had begun investigating
the assault case on Sunday.

He admitted, however, that Bambang had not been questioned so
far.

"We will question Wawan first to know what actually happened.
Next, we will summon Bambang to the headquarters and only then we
will decide what to do," Aryanto said.

He stressed that it was possible that Bambang would be removed
from his post if internal affairs found sufficient evidence to
prove that he was guilty.

Bambang allegedly assaulted Wawan, 53, upon receiving news
that his son Tri Rianto Andika Putra, 15, had been attacked by
unidentified persons. Wawan, who was at the crime site but didn't
recognize Tri, failed to capture the attackers.

Upon receiving the news, Bambang called up Wawan immediately
and told him to come to the Central Bogor Police subprecinct,
where he was assaulted.

Wawan's wife Muryati, 50, said on Sunday that her husband fell
unconscious immediately after arriving home on Saturday and was
rushed to Bogor Red Cross Hospital before he was moved to Azra
hospital on Sunday.

Quoting doctors treating Wawan, Muryati said on Monday that
her husband was suffering from a brain hemorrhage.

Bambang denied on Sunday that he had attacked Wawan, saying
that the allegation was fabricated to discredit him.

However, a member of Wawan's family who declined to be
identified said that Bambang visited Wawan at the Bogor Red Cross
hospital on Sunday, before he was moved to Azra hospital.

"The Bogor Police chief (Bambang) came to see Pak Wawan and
when he saw the victim (Wawan), he cried and apologized. He also
asked family members not to grant interviews to journalists," he
said.

"We took the apology to be an admission that he was the
attacker. He wouldn't apologize if he was not guilty. The fact
that he cried gave the impression that he regretted what he had
done," he said, adding that Wawan was moved to RS Azra upon
Bambang's instruction.

West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Edi Darmadi said that he
would summon Bambang to clarify news reports that he had
assaulted Wawan.

Edi told reporters in Bandung, West Java on Monday that
Bambang would be demoted if it was proven that he assaulted his
subordinate.

He said that his office had not received an official report
about the assault even though it was already three days after the
incident allegedly took place.

Bambang was removed from his post as West Jakarta Police chief
in 2003 following a report that he blackmailed several Chinese
businessmen. He was appointed as Bogor Police chief in 2004.

Meanwhile, several officers from West Java Police internal
affairs escorted Bambang to West Java Police Headquarters in
Bandung while North Bogor Police subprecinct Adj. Comr. Nandun
and his officer Chief Brig. Santoso were summoned to the National
Police Headquarters.