B

ali Police deputy chief Nyoman Suryasta said on Friday that his institution had imposed '€˜early punishment'€™ on 11 local police personnel who were allegedly involved in the extortion of cash from a group of Australian tourists earlier this year. The personnel involved will later face an ethics tribunal.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Suryasta said that he had recently suspended Kuta Police general crime unit head Adj. Comr. Dewa Tagel Wijasa from his position after an internal investigation revealed that Dewa had allegedly served as the main instigator of the extortion operation.

'€œHe ordered it [the extortion] directly. So, we have taken the early measure of suspending him,'€ Suryasta said.

During the suspension, Dewa, according to Suryasta, will temporarily serve as head of Denpasar Police'€™s Integrated Service Center (SPKT).

'€œIt [the suspension], however, is only temporary. Any [permanent] decision, like demotion, will be taken after the completion of the ethics tribunals,'€ Suryasta said.

Last month, the Bali Police summoned dozens of local police personnel for questioning to follow up on Australian media reports that accused the Bali police of committing violence against a group of Australian tourists and extorting cash from them earlier this year.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on June 21 that the incident occurred in February when Australian tourist Mark Ipaviz and his friends were holidaying in Bali.

On their last night on the resort island, they organized a private event at an upmarket Seminyak restaurant and hired a stripper for the party. After the stripper began her performance, security guards stormed in and allegedly used taser weapons against the Australians, as well as beating them with guns and bottles.

After confiscating the men'€™s phones and calling the local police, the guards and the police transported the group to a police station.

The tourists were reportedly forced to stay overnight at the police station and threatened with 10-year prison sentences for indecency. They were reportedly later taken to ATMs and forced to withdraw a total of Rp 250 million (US$17,510) to secure their release.

Earlier this week, Suryasta announced that seven police personnel had confessed to their involvement in the extortion case during interrogation. On Friday he confirmed that an internal police investigation had uncovered the involvement of 11 police personnel, including Dewa, in the operation.

Suryasta, however, refused to reveal the amount of money taken by the police personnel from the Australians. He was also unable to state whether the personnel committed violence against the tourists.

Some police personnel, he added, were considered guilty for not reporting the case to their superiors although they did not themselves receive part of the money.

'€œThe point is not the amount of the money. Their act has hampered the good name of both the Bali Police and the Bali people,'€ he said.

In an attempt to warn other police personnel, Suryasta on Wednesday afternoon ordered the 11 police personnel, along with Kuta Police chief Comr. Ida Bagus Dedy Januartha, to stand in the courtyard of the Bali Police headquarters for two hours under the sun.

He said that such a punishment had been taken to publicly humiliate them. '€œThis will let their colleagues know that they are crooked cops,'€ he said.

Speaking to the Post recently, Criminologist Gede Made Swardhana from Denpasar-based Udayana University said the Bali Police must impose a firm punishment on those involved in the alleged violence and extortion because extortion involving police personnel was rampant in Bali.

'€œIt [extortion] has affected many people, including tourists holidaying in Bali, who no longer trust law enforcement in Indonesia,'€ he said.