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Police warn against Ramadan raids
The Jakarta Police vowed to protect entertainment centers from violent raids from hard-line organizations during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts next month
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he Jakarta Police vowed to protect entertainment centers from violent raids from hard-line organizations during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts next month.
“We don’t want any organizations to take the law into their own hands for any reason whatsoever because it’s a crime,” Jakarta Police director of security and intelligence Sr. Comr. Irlan said Tuesday, adding that such raids would not solve any problems.
The police have come under fire for their complacency toward several acts of violence by hard-line organizations in the city.
The police did not make any arrests during the forced stoppage of several church constructions in Bekasi earlier this year.
The police also responded awkwardly to a recent attack by hard-line groups on a seminar attended by a group of transvestites at a hotel in Depok, West Java, where they also refused to arrest anyone.
Jakarta Tourism Agency head Arie Budiman said after the enactment of the 2006 tourism bylaw that no raids were to be conducted by any organizations during the fasting month in the city.
He said that the peaceful situation would be maintained because the agency, working with police and the Public Order Agency, would properly enforce the bylaw.
Arie said he would ensure the administration would keep the religious aspect of the month in mind.
He said his agency shut down eight entertainment spots in 2009, five in 2008, three in 2007 and five in 2006.
The head of the Jakarta branch of the hard-line Islam Defenders Front (FPI), Salim bin Umar Alatas, insisted on holding the organization’s annual agenda: monitoring alleged violations at entertainment venues.
“If there is [an entertainment spot] open, breaching regulations, we will raid it,” he informed The Jakarta Post via telephone of his illegal plans.
Salim said the almost 15,000- strong FPI member base in the city would monitor venues such as massage parlors, karaoke bars, nightclubs and cafes.
He said the situation was relatively calm in the past four years, with many entertainment spots closing when the FPI intended to raid them.
“They are afraid of the FPI, so they close,” he said.
The 2006 tourism bylaw says nightclubs, discotheques, spa centers, massage parlors and bars should cease operations entirely.
Karaoke bars, live music venues and pool halls located in the same area are subject to restricted operating hours from 8:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m..
Pool halls not located close to karaoke bars and live music venues can only operate from 10 a.m. to 12 a.m., but cannot operate if they are located close to entertainment venues that have to remain boarded up.
The same regulation allows bars and clubs located in star-rated hotels to remain open.
Indonesian Association of Entertainment Businesses secretary-general Adrian Maelite said there were 1,300 entertainment permits issued to 400 outlets in the city.
“I hope during the restricted hours, the police do not conduct open raids that disturb customers,” he said.
