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Densus 88 castigated for wrongful arrests, torture
Densus 88 counterterrorism agents search for evidence following a raid on a house used as a hideout by suspected militants in Mojokerto, East Java, on Dec
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span class="caption">Densus 88 counterterrorism agents search for evidence following a raid on a house used as a hideout by suspected militants in Mojokerto, East Java, on Dec. 19. The antiterror squad arrested seven men suspected of planning Christmas or New Year's attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation, police said Sunday. (AP)
A member of the House of Representatives has criticized the National Police's counterterrorism squad, Densus 88, which on Friday wrongly arrested two men on suspicion of terrorism in Surakarta, Central Java. The men were physically and psychologically tortured before they were released.
'It is a matter of deep regret that these men, these innocent men, were tortured,' said Saleh Partaonan Daulay, a member of House Commission III overseeing legal affairs, in Jakarta on Saturday, as reported by tribunenews.com.
Densus 88 officers, Saleh said, needed to prepare for operations with utmost thoroughness, to avoid charges of unprofessionalism.
'The two men were arrested on their way to the mosque. Over the course of their interrogation, the police realized that they were not terrorists,' said the National Mandate Party (PAN) lawmaker in his written statement.
According to Saleh, Densus 88 has made similar mistakes on numerous occasions, but has never issued a public apology.
Saleh noted that in May 2014, counterterrorism officers wrongly arrested Kadir, a resident of Banyu Harjo in Surakarta. In July 2013, two Muhammadiyah members ' Sapari and Mugi Hartanto ' were also wrongly arrested. In December 2012, a further 12 Surakartans were wrongly detained by the counterterrorism force.
'There have certainly been many other incidents that have not come to light,' he added.
The lawmaker demanded that the National Police publicly apologize to the families of those wrongly arrested, stressing that accusations of terrorism, especially public accusations, were a serious matter.
The National Police also needed to overhaul the procedures used in arresting suspected terrorists to avoid a repetition of such mistakes, he went on.
'Terrorism is undoubtedly a grave threat to the nation. But arrests must be carried out properly,' Saleh concluded. (bbn)
