`Police losing dignity and getting less respect'

`Police losing dignity and getting less respect'

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The police are losing their authority and many people do not
respect them -- as was evident in the escape of Islam Defenders
Front (FPI) chairman Habib Rizieq Shihab, as well as in the
attack on Tempo magazine's office and its journalists, a lawyer
said.

Hendardi, coordinator of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human
Rights Foundation (PBHI), made the statement during an interview
with The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Police received a slap in the face when FPI supporters
snatched their chief, who was arrested for alleged vandalism,
from underneath the noses of armed policemen in front of the
prosecutor's office on Monday.

The case was similar to last month's attack on Tempo's office
and its journalists by supporters of businessman Tomy Winata,
which happened in the presence of police officers.

The police shifted the blame for Rizieq's escape by pointing
their fingers at prosecutors, who had just received the case file
from police earlier in the day. However, this only raised further
criticism regarding the police force's authority.

"By not exercising its duty and authority, the police force is
losing its dignity," Hendardi said.

The police were under fire for both Rizieq's escape and the
attack on Tempo, because they were present during both incidents,
but did nothing to prevent them.

Hendardi suspected that the police often took political
interests into account when exercising their authority.

"Now, it has backfired, since the FPI members and thugs no
longer respect the police," he said.

In Rizieq's case, he said, the police could not blame anyone
but themselves, because the law had entrusted them with the power
to anticipate any eventualities during the transferal of a
suspect. Police should have had a contingency plan, especially
given the large number of FPI supporters present.

Head of Jakarta Prosecutor's Office Muljohardjo deplored the
police's stance on the incident, saying that there should be a
continued cooperation between investigators and prosecutors in
arranging security for the case.

On Monday, hundreds of FPI supporters "rescued" Rizieq from
police as he was being transferred to the Jakarta Prosecutor's
Office on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in South Jakarta. He was then taken
away on a city bus, which had been hijacked as it was passing the
office.

Later on the same day, the supporters returned Rizieq to
prosecutors, and wrote a letter to the Attorney General on the
next day to apologize for the "kidnapping".

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo said they would
investigate the incident.

The incident occurred hours after the Muslim cleric was
arrested by city police on Sunday evening at Soekarno-Hatta
Airport, as he was returning from Jordan on a humanitarian
mission -- as he claimed.

Rizieq was declared a fugitive after he ignored two summonses
to report to police after his case file had been completed

He is charged with encouraging FPI members to vandalize a
number of entertainment centers over the last three years, and
for spreading hatred against the government. The charges carry a
maximum punishment of seven years in jail.

On Thursday, the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office submitted his
case file to the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's Office who would
later represent the case at the Central Jakarta District Court.