Policeman offering compromise

On Aug. 13 evening, I was driving a car from the National Monument toward Grand Hyatt Hotel. When turning right to get into the Hotel Indonesia roundabout, I took the second lane instead of the first one as a police officer on duty, who stopped and later ticketed me, said.

Before issuing the traffic violation ticket number 02306590 for a quick trial at the Central Jakarta court on Aug. 28, 2001 the police officer of Jl. M.T. Haryono police precinct in Pancoran, offered me a compromise against the payment of some money to him. He said that I would have to pay a fine of Rp 75,000 at the court. The police officer's offer for a compromise was very tempting to car drivers, including me, but to maintain the good reputation of our police force, efforts must be made to ensure that such a practice will be eradicated.

WAHYUDI SOERIAATMADJA

Jakarta