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YLBHI claims mob broke up its meeting in Bali
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A hawker cooks up meatball soup beside police armored vehicles parked near the venue of the G20 Bali Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali on Nov. 12, 2022. (AFP/Dicky Bisinglasi)
The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) has lambasted recent intimidation allegedly carried out by a group of people including a team of pecalang (traditional Balinese security officers) during one of its meetings in Sanur, Bali, on Saturday and demanded the Bali Police apologize and investigate the incident.
The NGO said a mob attempted to disperse a YLBHI meeting in a villa in Sanur, on Saturday, while demanding the participants hand over their ID cards, as well as searching laptops and phones.
"We condemn the acts of thuggery carried out by this group of people. All of them are forms of anti-democratic action and systematic crimes," YLBHI chairman Muhamad Isnur said in a statement on Monday.
The YLBHI stressed that it had not violated any activity restriction as its meeting was held well outside the restricted area, about 20 kilometers away from the venues for the Group of 20 Summit in Nusa Dua.
Last month, the Bali administration issued a circular regarding activity restrictions around the time of the summit that were implemented in three districts close to the meeting venues and the airport, namely Kuta, South Kuta and South Denpasar.
"Village officials insisted that there was a ban on carrying out any activities during the G20 meetings," Isnur said.
The intimidation continued on Sunday with a group of people standing guard around the villa, preventing anyone from leaving, even those looking to catch flights. A member of the YLBHI reached out to the Bali Police about the incident and an officer said they would immediately come to the villa, but no police subsequently arrived.
