Police urged to arrest gambling bosses
Police urged to arrest gambling bosses
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Observers are calling on the police to start arresting big-time
gamblers and raid suspected big gambling dens in order to make
the current anti-gambling drive a success.
Legal expert at the University of Indonesia Rudy Satrio
claimed that all the police had done thus far was arrest small-
time street gamblers and confiscate gambling equipment from small
gambling dens while letting their bosses walk free.
He said that owners of large gambling dens smartly closed down
their places before police launched operations in order to avoid
raids.
"There is no reasons for police not raid already-closed big
gambling dens as according to the law they must confiscate any
equipment used for crime. They should arrest the owners as well,"
Rudy told The Jakarta Post.
He said that many people had informed police of the existence
of big gambling dens and the identity of their owners.
"So, it becomes a question, why don't arrest these guys? Like
grass, police are only cutting the upper parts and leaving the
roots untouched. The bosses with their untouched equipment can be
back on business at any time," Rudy said.
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto, who has a track record of
being very tough on gambling, last Monday gave a one-week
ultimatum to provincial police chiefs to eradicate gambling in
their respective areas. He warned them that if they did not
comply with his order they would be fired and face criminal
charges.
City police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani quickly ordered his
top officers, precinct and sub-precinct chiefs to eradicate
gambling in the capital within three days, with the threat that
local chiefs who failed to clean up their areas would be relieved
of their duties.
Immediately after Firman's order police began cracking down
gambling dens in Jakarta. However, no big gambling dens have been
raided and no big-time casino operators have been arrested.
Until Friday, some 520 gamblers and gambling dens owners
across the Greater Jakarta area had been arrested by police.
Firman proclaimed that they had closed down all the gambling
dens in the capital.
Executive director of the Independent Monitoring Alliance on
State Apparatus (AMIPKA) David Ridwan Betz said that the police
clearly only arrested small-time gamblers as according to their
data no big-time operators had been arrested.
"This is a joke. The police already have the identity of the
bosses. They should arrest them or reveal their names to public,"
he said.
David said that he had evidence that Harco Mangga Dua and
Glodok in West Jakarta as well as the island of Ayer were being
used as gambling centers involving billions of rupiah.
David proposed that the police also conduct internal
investigations of corrupt officers to make war against gambling
effective.
Meanwhile, City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said that
police had experienced difficulty in arresting big-time gambling
operators due to lack of proof.
"We just don't have enough evidence to arrest them. To make
matters ever harder for us, many of their men are ready to
sacrifice themselves by claiming ownership of the gambling dens,"
he told the Post.