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Rights activist protests injustices in debut song
In his debut rock song, human rights activist Usman Hamid takes a swipe at the string of abuse-of-power cases among government officials and law enforcement authorities that have plagued the country in recent months.
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Human rights activist Usman Hamid speaks to reporters after a live performance of his new song at Bentara Budaya Jakarta in Central Jakarta, on March 31, 2023. (Kompas.com/Melvina Tionardus)
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n his debut rock song, human rights activist Usman Hamid takes a swipe at the string of abuse-of-power cases among government officials and law enforcement authorities that have plagued the country in recent months.
The song, launched on multiple streaming platforms on March 31, is titled “Sa Kong Sa”, in reference to the unverified rumors of a shadowy gambling ring that involved numerous high-ranking police officers, dubbed the 303 Consortium.
Theories about the 303 Consortium, a reference to the article on gambling in the Criminal Code, gained traction last year due to accusations that former police internal affairs chief Ferdy Sambo was the leader of an “empire” presiding over online gambling rings across the country.
Ferdy at the time was standing trial for the murder of his own subordinate, Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat, and was sentenced to death by the court in February for orchestrating the murder and tampering with evidence to cover it up.
“The song is an expression of my anxiety over the country's legal and political situation,” Usman, who also heads rights watchdog Amnesty International Indonesia (AII), said during the song’s recent launch, adding that he believed Ferdy’s murder cover-up showed the extent to which law enforcement had regressed in the country.
The Ferdy murder case is regarded as the biggest scandal to hit the National Police to date, and it caused public trust in the institution to plummet while also sparking calls for wider police reforms.
Usman said that “Sa Kong Sa” was also a piece of criticism of the numerous civil servants that are currently under investigation for money laundering or bribery after flaunting their vast wealth on social media.
The official video for “Sa Kong Sa” notably includes a photograph of the Finance Ministry’s Taxation Directorate General, which has been embroiled in a crisis of confidence following the revelation that an echelon III official had amassed a suspiciously large fortune.
The taxman in question, Rafael Alun Trisambodo, was detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Monday on charges of accepting bribes from taxpayers for the past 12 years.
Read also: KPK detains ex-taxman Rafael on charges of taking bribesRafael’s case has since sparked a manhunt among Indonesian social media users to expose the extravagant lifestyles of other public officials.
Usman, who made his name as an activist during the fall of the Soeharto regime in 1998, also teased that more songs were in the pipeline, including one about the deadly Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy.
Over 130 people, including many children, were killed in a stampede after police fired tear gas into the crowded Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java, during a soccer match on Oct.1.
“Through this song, I want to ask where their [authorities responsible for the Kanjuruhan tragedy] sense of humanity is,” Usman added.
