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strong>Oct. 5, p5

Defying public pressure, the North Maluku Police have reiterated that they will continue their investigation into alleged defamation by a local activist who uploaded to YouTube a video showing a Ternate Police officer accepting money from a traffic violator.

North Maluku Police Chief Brig. Gen. Zulkarnain said that although the police had released the suspect, identified as Adlun Fiqri, a student at Ternate-based Khairun University (Unkhair), the legal process regarding the case was ongoing.

'€œAfter I watched [the video] I saw that it [Adlun'€™s act] was improper conduct. There was no bribery. The police officer just ticketed [the motorist],'€ Zulkarnain said as quoted by Antara news agency.

Last week, the Ternate Police arrested Adlun for allegedly violating Article 27, point 3, of the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law on online defamation which carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison, after he uploaded a video showing a Ternate Police officer accepting Rp 115,000 (US$7.80) from a motorcyclist who was not wearing a helmet.

Your comments:

This is how justice is in Indonesia. Can you imagine there was a boy who wanted to defend justice and he was arrested? Where'€™s the justice? They are supposed to uphold the truth. In fact, they committed the crime, they did the wrong thing. I'€™m sure that most Indonesian police are doing the same thing to almost all road rule violators.

Maulia

I do not understand how exposing something that actually happened is in any way a slander or defamation. If he were spreading lies it would be different.

Where'€™s Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, the anticorruption President?

Wandering Star

Some say he disappeared into the smoke. But I believe he disappeared right after assuming the presidency.

Abu Abu

Beautiful Indonesia, where a young man who wants a clean country is punished. Indonesia, where telling the truth is a crime and stealing money from motorists is the law of the land. The biggest joke is that Indonesia thinks it is a religious country. It is nothing but a stinking heap of vice and corruption.

Lasem Benny

The case depends entirely on the student himself. He has to be strong and refuse admitting to a crime, regardless of what. If he used English in the video he should say he meant the police asked for a tip and not a bribe.

There is a minimum amount for it to be called a bribe, not only in Indonesia, which makes it hard to prosecute police officers for small tips. It is an administrative offense to receive a tip for any civil servant though, which would render an administrative punishment within the police.

To help the student, he needs a smart and tough lawyer, who can give smart advice. I am pretty sure he doesn'€™t have that since he is still in jail. He has probably been advised to admit to an offense, plead guilty against getting out with time served. If anyone records a video like this, they should never mention the word bribe, but let the video talk for itself.

The motorist who paid the tip will never admit to anything since both the police officer and the motorist that paid it are guilty of a crime. Indonesia doesn'€™t have any '€œwhistle blower'€ protection, which makes it hard to get anywhere in cases like this. Lawmakers need to get this right to be able to address this correctly. Not sure there is any political will for that though.

Orang Biasa

It is not a bribe, nor is it a tip. It is extortion. It is an all too common practice to the point that an international study suggests that 98 percent of Indonesian citizens believe the police to be profoundly and terminally corrupt.

Wayang

The other 2 percent are the actual police or other public servants who think the payoffs are their due...

Nate

Per capita the amount of police to people is so low that unless you were driving in a bus lane or stupid or being dishonest, how would police corruption be a problem?

Dusty Britt

Because most of them are out there on the side of the street stopping anyone that they might be able to take down. It'€™s a wonder that they investigate any actual crime at all.

Fred Frogley

And also because if you are seen as a target, like you have money or no political connections, the police will come looking for you. Suddenly that permit you have for doing your business is no longer valid according to the prosecutor and you are charged with a criminal offense.

Testing

Every day on every street, police in Indonesia collect bribes; every Indonesian person has a smartphone with Internet and camera. To support this guy, thousands of Indonesians should make similar videos and upload them; the police cannot arrest everyone and it cannot be ignored on such a scale by the President.

Jakfan

They told me '€œIndonesia embraces you or chews you up and spits you out.'€ In what process is this young fellow? Embracing, spitting or chewing?

Odez

Now stop making all this fuss everybody!

The North Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Zulkarnain has explained it:

'€œThe traffic police officers were simply taking fines for safekeeping. They were not taking bribes.'€

You see? So that'€™s all right then, isn'€™t it?

Terry McAsee

Corruption has spread to many sectors, even to the most powerful institutions. The law is just a mask or hypocritical game to make people happy; corruption is too powerful to defeat and there is no place for protection.

We stand surrounded by so many smart, crafty corruptors, who make the Indonesian economy so fragile against the global economic crisis. We have so many crafty, dirty and corrupt politicians. They nominate themselves to be regents, governors or even the president, to rob money or be corrupt for their allies or party.

They don'€™t really care about Indonesian prosperity but they do care about how to enrich themselves and allies or party. So we are really seriously teetering on the brink of corruption.

Hartono

As always, I am interested in hearing the concrete measures you are taking to combat this terrible scourge. You talk about corruption as if it is a brilliantly conceived foreign conspiracy to prevent Indonesia from realizing its potential, and that the policemen were entirely unaffected by the culture that produced them.

Devanagari

Classic bullying, a clear message to everyone; if you film malpractice, you will be arrested, detained
and charged with slander. You may win the case, you may be released from jail, but how many want the hassle?

Though it could be deemed as a small case it would be the ideal moment for the President to make it very clear that filming malpractice is the right of every citizen. With one sentence he could support citizens to the police...

But hey, no need to hold our breath on this because it will never matter. Once again it will be a lost chance to do something that could actually make a difference and cost nothing.

Phew