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Issue of the day: Bali cops grilled in violence, extortion case
Aug
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strong>Aug. 28, p3
After weeks of silence, the Bali Police have finally responded to allegations that local police personnel had committed violence against and extorted money out of several Australian tourists earlier this year, saying that an investigation of the incident was under way.
Bali Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Hery Wiyanto said on Thursday that the Bali Police's internal affairs directorate had summoned the Kuta Police chief and several Kuta Police personnel to Bali Police headquarters for questioning regarding their alleged involvement in the incident.
The incident allegedly happened in February when former model Mark Ipaviz and his friends were holidaying on the resort island, The Sydney Morning Herald reported on June 21.
Your comments:
The figures of the increasing number of tourists from Australia is exactly opposite to those quoted in Australia. The numbers of bookings are declining!
IC
Tourism is a very fragile commodity, with the Egyptians being a classic example of what can be expected when the tides of commerce turn against the visitors. Tourism there has had a downturn of 80 to 90 percent.
Bali and Indonesia need to understand that the police's brutality, greed, corruption and imposition of sharia are all factors that, joined with the volcano erupting, can be sufficient to deter people from visiting.
At the end of the day, Bali is a tourist destination because it is close to Australia (for the Aussies and Kiwis) and has nice beaches, accommodations, etc. But the Philippines is not far away and has almost all of the same and more.
I suggest that if the Indonesians are serious about being involved in the tourism market then they should look after and garner the people who come to stay and spend money in their country.
Sadly, corruption, greed and robbery are all too prevalent. As a visitor to your country for the last three months, I am all too aware of places that I shall avoid in the future.
Aking
It's a sad and unfortunate incident. Such cases would trigger a transfer of investment in tourism from Bali to other neighboring countries. Such a raid cannot take place without local police involvement and it is ironic. Local Balinese need to look within because 90 percent of investment here is from outsiders. Otherwise Bali still would have been in the early 1900s. It's extremely vital for the police to take stern action.
Wadata
The only reason this investigation was ordered by the National Police is because they did not get a share of the money.
Every month, funds reportedly extorted by the police are 'funneled' to top leaders within the senior ranks. Any internal police investigation is in itself a travesty of justice since they all protect themselves.
The police force in this country has and is negatively affecting the economic growth ensuring that investors and visitors stop coming to the country. The police of this country and the judicial system have caused damage to the country economically that surely is in the trillions of rupiah, jobs and tourism.
Willo
I 100 percent concur with your statement: Been there, done that, regarding both the police and the judicial system of Indonesia.
Omron
Hery said that the current investigation had been ordered by the National Police's headquarters in Jakarta in an attempt to clear the name of the police.
'If we can't clear their names then we'll just keep quiet and hope that everyone forgets about it. We certainly wouldn't want them to lose their jobs when they have shown such entrepreneurial spirit,' he [might have] added.
Fred Frogley
'The current investigation had been ordered by the National Police's headquarters in Jakarta in an attempt to clear the name of the police.'
Do they even have a name to protect?
'Among possible sanctions are delay of promotion, imprisonment or even dismissal,' he said. Wow, some very serious consequences.
But they can all rest assured that the investigation will reach an inconclusive end, as they always do, because of a lack of evidence and also because the alleged victims refused to press charges. They all live to extort another day.
Abu
Yes, I also heard about this incident from a friend in Sydney because the news has been widely circulated in local newspapers and on radio news. This is disgusting and really embarrassing. How could this happen?
The police forced the tourists to an ATM machine to withdraw money for bribery. This is truly brutal and barbaric.
Bali is a favorite destination for holidaymakers because Bali people are famous for their warm, honest and friendly attitude toward tourists, domestic and foreign alike.
If the independent investigation found that the report were true, the police commander must at least resign his post after apologizing to public.
Robby Kaware
'Hery said firm sanctions would be imposed on the police personnel in question should the investigation find that they were involved in the alleged incident.'
In any other country of the world these thugs would be in jail for a long time. Here they will be talked to and told, please stop for a while, and be disqualified from promotion for two months.
Another example of the criminal mafia that rules over the country.
Joko
