Two UKI students sue police for Rp 1b for wrongful arrest
Two UKI students sue police for Rp 1b for wrongful arrest
JAKARTA (JP): Two Indonesian Christian University (UKI)
students, detained for alleged involvement in kidnapping a police
officer, are suing the city police for wrongful arrest.
Rudi Pahala Simatupang Siburian and Edward Taurus B. Karo-karo
claimed city police officers did not furnish warrants when they
arrested them on Dec. 8. The men, students in the economics
school, are still in custody.
In the suit filed by their attorneys at the South Jakarta
District Court on Thursday, the two seek damages of Rp 1.5
million for material losses and Rp 1 billion for other losses.
They are represented by lawyers from the Student Movement
Advocating Team.
Hotma Timbul Hutapea, one of the lawyers, said Rudi was
arrested at his house on Jl. Sadar in Ciganjur, South Jakarta,
and Edward at his home on Jl. Letjen. Sutoyo, Cawang, East
Jakarta.
"Police did not show any warrants in both arrests. The police
officers even introduced themselves as Rudi's friends to Rudy's
relatives before making the arrest."
Johnson Panjaitan, also one of the legal team, said the police
were required to prepare warrants since the students were accused
of kidnapping police intelligence officer Suratman on Nov. 27.
"The police had a lot of time to prepare the arrest warrants.
They could not say that they arrested the students red-handed,"
Johnson said.
He added that police had no right to arrest the students
because they possessed no preliminary evidence.
Video
The police, he said, made the arrest based purely on video
footage of the incident from private television station SCTV.
Both men did not have access to their lawyers during police
questioning, Johnson said.
He said the students signed dossiers because they were
intimidated.
Hotma contended that Rudi and Edward, members of the logistics
team of student group City Forum, tried to rescue Suratman from
being lynched during a student rally organized by the group near
city police headquarters on Jl. Gatot Subroto, South Jakarta.
He said the officer was taken by taxi to the UKI campus in
Cawang and then to STIE Nusantara, also in East Jakarta, while
the students returned to the demonstration scene.
In addition to material compensation, the students demanded
the police restore their good name through advertisements in
selected print media and television, Hotma said.
Edward's brother Hendi Karo-karo, who was also arrested but
released the following morning, is reportedly planning to sue
police on the same grievance.
Rudi and Edward, along with the two others who are still at
large, are accused of abducting the sergeant major of the South
Jakarta police identification unit.
Police denied at the time of the arrest there had been a
contravention of procedures.
"We used proper procedures," city police spokesman Lt. Col.
Edward Aritonang said. (jun)