Vindicated ‘ojek’ driver demands apology

After spending six months in Salemba Penitentiary in Central Jakarta, Hasan Basri, an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver, was acquitted of theft by the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday.

The 41-year-old man said on Thursday that he was arrested on a pretext and tortured by officers during questioning. He wants the officers who wronged him to apologize.

“When I was detained, they hit and tortured me and forced me to confess that I was part of a gang of thieves,” Hasan said on Thursday.

In November, Hasan was arrested by police while waiting for customers in Lapangan Banteng, Central Jakarta, when three police officers arrested him, accusing him of participating in the theft of several laptop computers and two cellular phones from a boarding house in Kemayoran a month earlier.

The court, however, disagreed. The judges exonerated Hasan, saying in their decision that there was a lack evidence or convincing testimony in the case.

Another man arrested in the case, Reza, testified during the trial that he did not know Hasan.

“Now, I want those who have falsely arrested me to be held responsible for their actions,” Hasan said.

Hasan and his lawyers from the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) demanded that the Central Jakarta Police and Central Jakarta Prosecutor’s Office make a public apology.

“We want them to publicly confess to 10 media outlets and say that they made a false arrest,” LBH lawyer Maruli Rajaguguk said.

Rajaguguk said that Daniel Sanjaya, the person who accused Hasan of committing the crime, should also apologize and that the Jakarta Police internal affairs division should investigate the arresting officers.

“Even Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Angesta Romano Yoyol claimed that there was no such false arrest back then,” he said.

According to Rajaguguk, if no public apology was made within a week, Hasan would file a lawsuit against the police officers and the prosecutors in the case. (riz)