Prosecutors must take tests for guns
Prosecutors must take tests for guns
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Prosecutors who wish to be armed will not receive any special
treatment when applying for gun licenses, despite the attorney
general's recent request, according to Jakarta Police chief Insp.
Gen. Firman Gani.
Firman said that prosecutors, like anyone else wanting a
permit, would have to undergo the standard battery of tests to
determine whether or not they are psychologically suited to
carrying a weapon.
"The selection won't be done on an institutional basis, even
for the Attorney General's Office," said Firman.
Earlier in the week, Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh --
prompted by Saturday's shooting of a guard at the house of a
deputy attorney general handling corruption cases -- said he
would ask the National Police to give special treatment to
prosecutors applying for gun permits.
Although the National Police officially issue gun permits,
they only issue them based on recommendations from the police
station in the vicinity of the applicant's residence.
Abdul Rahman stressed that his office did not want to arm all
of its roughly 5,800 prosecutors, but just those working on
corruption cases, who were the most at risk.
In May of last year a prosecutor dealing with corruption cases
was gunned down in Central Sulawesi. Last December, the house of
the chief prosecutor of Bengkulu province was burned down. Police
suspect arson in relation to the prosecutor's investigation of a
Rp 17 billion corruption case.
Last Saturday, a 49-year-old guard was shot and wounded at the
home of the deputy attorney general in charge of special crimes,
Sudhono Iswahyudi, in Kebayoran Lama, which is next door to the
South Jakarta Prosecutor's Office.
The police have said that the motive for the shooting was not
to terrorize Sudhono -- who was not home at the time -- but that
it was purely a robbery attempt. According to Antara, police
already know the whereabouts of the two suspected robbers and
will arrest them shortly.
Firman agreed that prosecutors be armed, particularly because
they are vulnerable to acts of violence. However, he said due to
recent cases, police could not afford to be lax in issuing gun
licenses.
In February, a city public order officer, Krisman Siregar --
without provocation -- shot dead a 28-year-old man guarding a
disputed parcel of land. Last August, comedian Parto fired a shot
into the air in a restaurant lobby because reporters were
swarming around him. Both were licensed to own and use a gun by
the police.
According to police records, nationwide there are 34,150
licensed civilian gun holders. Police also estimate that there
are around 100,000 unlicensed firearms circulating in the Greater
Jakarta area alone.