TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The information on the involvement of online taxi drivers at the riot in the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) headquarters on September 18, is starting to shed some light. Tempo received a picture of social media post urging people to get involved in the riot from an online taxi driver Bayu (42).
The suggestion, according to Bayu, was posted on Grab driver’s community group Facebook page on Saturday evening, September 17. It showed Reszky Kaspersky as the Facebook account that posted the persuasive post on September 18 at 11:36 p.m.
The Facebook post read as below:
"A riot broke out along with the emergence of [communist party ] PKI at RSCM (Ciptomangunkusumo Hospital) in Cikini, Salemba, Central Jakarta. Field coordinators are urged to spread this information to their respective groups so that drivers operating in Jakarta and its greater area vicinity can join [the riot] and provide assistance. Thank you.”
Read: Jakarta Under Control after Violent Protest at LBH Building
Bayu said that he did not know the owner of the account and that fellow online-taxi drivers in his area of Menteng chose not to be instigated by it. He further explained that many online-taxi drivers that came to the location were mostly outsiders.
Bayu claimed that drivers from Matraman - further east from Menteng - were the ones who were provoked by the Facebook post. He said he did not buy the suggestion on the social media since it cannot easily be trusted. He also already knew several people that work at the LBH that have used his services.
Previously, chairman of Inter-Agency Relations at the Betawi Culture Consultative Body (Bamus Betawi) Muhammad Rifki suspected that online-taxi drivers were involved as riot instigators at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute headquarters.
Grab Indonesia Public Relation Andre Sebastian said he had not heard about the involvement of Grab drivers in the LBH Jakarta riot and told Tempo on Thursday night that he would look into it.
M. YUSUF MANURUNG
