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Calls for gun-use accountability after fatal police shootings
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Banten Police Chief Insp. Gen. Abdul Hakim (left) inspects an exhibition on electronic data recording in Serang, Banten, on Dec. 14, 2023. The police chief officiated an integrated electronic application for taking inventories of equipment such as firearms, ammunition and fuel. (Antara/Asep Fathulrahman)
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recent string of extra-judicial executions by police officers has shed light on the institution’s failure to regulate firearm use among its personnel, prompting watchdogs to urge the institution to improve accountability in the use of lethal force.
In the early hours of Sunday, a Semarang Police officer reportedly shot and killed a 17-year-old student, identified by his initials GRO, while dispersing a teenage “gangster” brawl in front of a housing complex in the western part of the city.
Semarang Police chief Sr. Comr. Irwan Anwar said the officer had noticed the brawl as he was passing by the area on his way home. When he tried to disperse the teenagers, according to the police account, some of them attacked the officer, forcing him to take “stern action” by firing his gun.
Apart from GRO, two other boys were shot in the incident, a 16-year-old identified as S and a 17-year-old identified as A. GRO succumbed to his injuries at a nearby hospital.
Irwan declined to reveal the officer’s name but said he was being questioned by the Semarang Police's Internal Affairs Division (Propam).
Read also: Police slap murder charge in West Sumatra fatal police shooting
According to information received by rights group Amnesty International Indonesia, however, there was no brawl near the housing complex that night. The police officer allegedly opened fire after his motorbike collided with the one the students were riding.
