Organized crime not a problem yet: Seminar
Organized crime not a problem yet: Seminar
JAKARTA (JP): Judges and scholars at a seminar held here yesterday were unanimous in their support for police efforts against organized crime in Indonesia's cities.
"We have to anticipate the possible emergence of organized crime groups, even though their methods may still be traditional at this stage," Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman told participants in the police-sponsored one-day seminar on organized crime and its prevention, held at the Police Science College.
Muladi, from Semarang's University of Diponegoro, Satjipto Rahardjo from the Moslem Assyafi'iyah College in Jakarta and lawyer Lobby Loeqman all expressed appreciation for police efforts to reduce crime and to prevent the growth of organized crime in Indonesia.
According to Muladi, none of the crimes documented in police records had been committed by organized syndicates.
Police investigations showed that racketeering, violent robberies, drug trafficking, prostitution, vehicle theft, terrorism and white-collar crime currently involved only small groups of people, he said.
However, authorities must pay serious attention to the phenomenon of organized crime, he said, because many crimes committed in Indonesia had been linked to criminal networks in other countries.
Rahardjo said: "Even though organized crime is not yet a problem in Indonesia, we have to anticipate its arrival here as early as possible, given the experience of other countries and increasing globalization."
Scholar Mardjono Reksodiputro from the University of Indonesia, who was one of the panelists, warned against the use of violence in the fight against organized crime, saying it would prove ineffective, even counterproductive.
"It (the use of violence by the authorities) only causes young criminal groups to ask for protection from the syndicates," Mardjono said.
He said that the authorities' massive operation against street hoodlums recently might not help stop the emergence of organized crime syndicates in this country.
The seminar was attended by over 100 participants from related fields. Other speakers included Supreme Court Justice Bismar Siregar; former deputy national police chief for operational affairs, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Koesparmono Irsan and former city police chief, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Mochammad Hindarto.
Lobby said that, apart from anticipating the emergence of strong organized crime syndicates, the authorities should also pay attention to possible collusion between high-ranking officials and criminals. "If such practices occur, they could pave the way for the growth of (organized crime) syndicates," he warned.
Police claim that there are no organized crime syndicates in Indonesia but say they have found some small groups which ran their operations in ways similar to those of notorious crime syndicates abroad.
"These small units could grow stronger and become an untouchable organized crime chain if adequate measures are not taken to get rid of them right now," Hindarto said.
According to Koesparmono, many local criminal groups have established legal companies as fronts for their illegal operations.
Some of the amateur organized crime syndicates had also cultivated close relationships with certain middle-ranking police officers, whom they believe have a promising future, he said. (bsr)