Rough justice

Rough justice

Dozens of ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers pummelled, stripped
and dragged Musa, using a motorcycle. Musa died immediately. They
were furious with Musa, who had allegedly stolen a motorcycle
belonging to Samit, one of the ojek drivers, who had their base
of operations in Pekayon, Bekasi.

On the same day, ojek drivers in Bogor beat and burned to
death Ahmad Komaruddin. Like Musa, Komaruddin was accused of
stealing a motorcycle belonging to one of the ojek drivers.

In contrast to the fate of the two suspected thieves, David
Nusa Widjaya, a banker who embezzled Rp 1.29 trillion in Bank
Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI), has been sentenced to only
one year's imprisonment. Djoko Tjandra, a prime suspect in the
abuse of Rp 504.6 billion in the Bank Bali deviation case, has
been free from punishment.

In the same case, Bank Indonesia Governor Syahril Sabirin has
been sentenced to three years' imprisonment, although the misused
funds have been returned.

The court decisions on the corruption cases involving David
and Djoko are only a small part of legal proceedings in
Indonesia. They have become a symbol of legal absurdity. It is
really absurd, because those guilty of stealing fowl or flip-
flops are tried quickly and jailed for two months.

The ojek drivers are probably ignorant of the law, but they do
have a sense of justice, which means they no longer have any
confidence in an effective legal system. They regard street
justice as the right way of dispensing justice. That is their own
way of upholding law enforcement. They are the judges in their
own justice system, as other versions are no longer considered
reliable.

-- Koran Tempo, Jakarta