Police charge 59 members of a youth group
Police charge 59 members of a youth group
JAKARTA (JP): Four of the 59 members of a youth organization
arrested for ransacking billiard centers in West Jakarta Sunday
were yesterday officially charged with vandalism, chief of the
West Jakarta police precinct said.
Lt. Col. Bakat Purwanto said police were still trying to
gather more evidence and will continue questioning the 59 members
of the Pemuda Pancasila (PP) youth organization before bringing
them to court.
About 60 people, dressed in PP's black-and-red-striped
military-looking outfits, attacked five billiard centers located
in the Duta Mas complex, Grogol, West Jakarta, last Sunday
afternoon.
The organization's chief of the Grogol Petamburan branch
admitted on RCTI Sunday night that the organization did not
inform the police of their planned raids, which he claimed was
the organization's attempt to eliminate disguised gambling.
"These raids are in line with the people's aspiration to
eradicate gambling, particularly the aspiration of PP members,"
Zainal Arifin Lubis said, defending the youths' action.
Witnesses said that the PP members went to the billiard
centers at around 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The members then destroyed
almost everything in the halls, including the billiard tables and
sticks, and some pinball machines.
"They came into the room and told everybody to stop playing
the games. Then they violently destroyed the equipment," one of
the witnesses said.
City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata yesterday condemned
the attack. He said that unless there was sufficient evidence of
alleged gambling, no one was justified to raid and damage the
property of any entertainment centers.
Hamami said police would consider the incident the individual
responsibility of the 59 youths and not the organization's.
"But, police will not tolerate those who take justice into
their own hands. Those who were proven to violate the law will be
punished," Hamami said.
All kinds of gambling are prohibited under Indonesian law.
But witnesses said that PP members raided the billiard centers
after the owners of the amusement centers failed to give the
money the members had asked for.
"Some members came here on Friday to ask for a donation from
our boss to help finance the construction of the organization's
new office in Grogol. The youths got mad and attacked us because
they did not get the money," said a member of staff at one
billiard center.
PP Vice Chairman Yoris Raweyai, said that he had fired Lubis
soon after the incident, Antara reported.
Yoris said only 22 of the 59 people arrested were PP members.
City Military Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoedin,
said that the organization had no authority to raid the
establishment. (04/jun)