SAR volunteer faces jail term for carrying folding knife

A prosecutor asked the Sleman District Court in Yogyakarta to sentence a SAR (Search and Rescue) volunteer to five months in jail for carrying a folding knife without a permit outside Merapi eruption danger zones.

Prosecutor Dewi Sofiastuti said Arief Johar could create public unrest, as he was found carrying the knife on Jl. Solo in Maguwoharjo, Sleman, on Nov. 24 last year, when he was off duty.

Arief, who at that time was on his way to his campus after conducting SAR activities in Balerante, Kemusuk, Klaten, Central Java, was arrested and immediately detained. He was finally put under city arrest on March 8 upon the request of the defendant and his family.

His lawyer. Sinto Ari Wibowo, said that as a SAR volunteer, Arief had the right to carry the folding knife as a standard SAR tool.