TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Guspardi Gaus, Indonesian House of Representatives' (DPR's) PAN faction member, deplored the National Police's (Polri's) handling of the Action to Save Indonesia Coalition's (KAMI's) eight activists detained and paraded handcuffed in public in orange vests.
"They are neither criminals nor corruptors or political prisoners, let alone terrorists. To this end, the police is overreacting," Gaus noted on Saturday.
Gaus emphasized that the Police, as the protector of society, should be more prudent in taking actions in upholding justice and truth.
Gaus viewed the treatment meted out to activists, or "those with differing opinions," akin to criminals as being highly inappropriate.
"The police should be more prudent and humane. The act of parading the suspects wearing orange prison clothing and their hands tied or handcuffed will actually tarnish the police’s image in the public’s eyes," the legislator stated.
The KAMI members were named as suspects for allegedly violating Law No. 11 of 2008 on Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE Law), though they did not deserve to be treated like notorious criminals, he emphasized.
The lawmaker deemed the Police's treatment of KAMI activists as being inappropriate and "off side".
Hence, Gaus is optimistic that the police would contemplate on its actions in connection with the incident and later conduct itself in a more humane manner. Do not make the image of Polri, which is respected as protector of the community, to steep lower in the eyes of the public.
The Indonesian Police's Crime Investigation Department (Bareskrim) released a video of the arrest of eight high-ranking officials and members of KAMI on Thursday (Oct 15) afternoon. All suspects were also presented before the media crew.
The suspects were seen handcuffed and wearing orange detention clothing that read "Bareskrim Polri prisoners."
The eight suspects detained by the police comprise three members of the KAMI Executive Committee: Syahganda Nainggolan, Jumhur Hidayat, and Anton Permana.
