Amnesty Indonesia Condemns Police Brutality in Student Protest

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid in a written statement on Wednesday condemns the incident that saw a police personnel securing a heated situation amidst a protest by body slamming a student protester in Tangerang. He deemed it a blatant act of brutality.

“That was clearly a criminal offence as [the police] used unnecessary use of force and violence,” the Amnesty Indonesia director wrote on October 13. 

Because he believes it to be classified as a criminal act, he urged for the perpetrator to be taken to courts to be put on trial and bring justice for the victim and use it as a lesson for other police members. 

“If not, police brutality will likely recur in the future. This latest case happened not long after the Indonesian Police Chief called for police members to adopt a more ‘humane’ approach,” Usman added. 

In a viral video that quickly spread through social platforms, the student can be seen being in a chokehold and was slammed to the ground by the police and violently landed on the back of his head. Amrullah then can be seen shaking uncontrollably laying on the ground seemingly experiencing a seizure.

The police chief issued a public apology for the ill-treatment from one of the force’s personnel during the protest that was held at the Tangerang Regent headquarters on October 13 and claims the police member involved is being questioned by internal affairs (Propam).

Read: Police Apologize for 'Body Slam' Incident Against A Student Protester

M YUSUF MANURUNG | AYU CIPTA