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)