'Unchecked thuggery could lead to organized crime'

'Unchecked thuggery could lead to organized crime'

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government should not turn a blind eye to rampant thuggery
and instead, should lead a national anti-hoodlumism movement, as
thuggery could lead to the emergence of organized crime, a
politician and a criminologist have said.

United Development Party of Reform (PPP Reformasi) executive
Zaenal Ma'arif called on the president to start "a dramatic step
to eradicate thuggery practices".

"There is no other way but a drastic action from the president
to use her authority (against thuggery practices)," he said,
referring to the attack on the office and journalists of Tempo
weekly magazine by men working for notorious businessman Tomy
Winata.

Zaenal described Tomy, a tycoon known for his close
association with high-ranking security officers and government
officials, as "a mysterious man who is untouchable by law".

The attack against Tempo revealed that organized thuggery
practices did exist in the country, and often under the consent
of high-ranking security officials, Zaenal told Antara.

The Tempo incident has prompted community and national
leaders, including People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien
Rais, to call upon the government to eradicate thuggery
practices.

Senior journalists from various media organizations have also
launched a movement against thuggery, saying that if thuggery
practices were left unchecked, freedom of expression would
eventually be undermined.

Following mounting public pressure for the government and the
House of Representatives to act against thuggery, the House
Commission I on security and foreign affairs is scheduled to
conduct a hearing with National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar,
representatives of Tempo, as well as Tomy Winata on Monday.

Criminologist M. Mustafa at the University of Indonesia noted
that thuggery practices had been expanding without resistance in
recent years, he told The Jakarta Post on Saturday, adding that
organized hoodlums on the streets to large-scale gangs of thugs
were available everywhere in the country.

Large-scale thug organizations are usually involved in debt
collection, prostitution rings, drug dealings and gambling dens.

Worse, Mustafa said, the organized hoodlums had been growing
in number as they had established cooperation with security
officers, bureaucrats and even politicians.

Saying that such practices existed in almost all countries in
the world, he called on the government to take firm steps against
thuggery, as it threatened the citizens' rights to protection.

Mustafa warned that if they were not reigned in from now on,
these thuggery practices could become "the embryo of organized
crime".

He said that thuggery groups paid security officers in order
to protect their often illegal businesses. Furthermore, these
groups might even cooperate with government officials and
politicians for additional business opportunities.

The attack on Tempo magazine was not the first one committed
by men claiming to be sympathizers of Tomy. Last year, people
claiming to represent Tomy threatened to burn down the office of
Forum Keadilan magazine after the magazine ran a story
implicating Tomy in connection with the drug business in
Indonesia.

Last year, Tomy's Artha Graha Bank dispute with Indian firm
Polaris led to the detainment of Polaris chairman Arun Jain and
vice president Rajiv Malhotra. Both were released following
unrelenting pressure from the Indian government.

The Tempo incident on March 8 started when some 200 people
claiming to represent businessman Tomy Winata stormed the
magazine's office, demanding it retract an article in its March 3
edition about Tomy's plan to renovate Tanah Abang Market before
it was gutted by a fire last month.

Several of the protesters forced a Tempo journalist to reveal
the source quoted in the article. As the journalist refused, they
threatened him, saying that Tomy bought equipment for the police
and that he could easily buy the magazine.

In the presence of policemen, one of the protesters hurled a
tissue box, injuring a journalist. They also assaulted the
journalist and chief editor Bambang Harymurti at the Central
Jakarta Police station.