Yusril Warns Dedi Mulyadi's Bounty for Catching Robbers Could Lead to Vigilantism

Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra has responded to the controversy surrounding West Java Governor Dedi Mulyadi’s idea of offering a bounty for the capture of robbers. Yusril stated that implementing such a scheme is not as straightforward as imagined.

He reminded the public that determining a person’s guilt is the absolute authority of a panel of judges through a legally binding court verdict, not the assessment of citizens or law enforcement officers. “It is possible that the captor of a robber will be disappointed because the promised reward is not given, as they must still wait for a court decision with permanent legal force,” Yusril said in a statement on Sunday.

Yusril urged the West Java Regional Police to increase security patrols in areas prone to robbery. He emphasised that enhanced patrols are crucial to provide a sense of security to the public while carrying out the police’s duties to maintain security and order, protect the community, and enforce the law.

He also called on the police to strengthen public education on crime prevention and reporting procedures to prevent citizens from being encouraged to take the law into their own hands. While acknowledging that the safety of victims’ lives and property is a human right that the state must guarantee, Yusril stressed that perpetrators also have constitutional rights to be processed legally in court.

“Even though they have committed crimes, robbers still have the right to be processed legally. They must be captured alive, tried fairly, and sentenced proportionately. They must not be beaten to death by a mob beyond the limits of humanity,” he asserted.