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View all search resultsVictims of police brutality speak out against KUHAP flaws
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This picture taken on Sept. 21, 2023 shows Cholifatul Nur reacting as she sits beside the grave of her only child Jovan Farellino, who was 15 when he died in the stampede that killed 135 people at the Kanjuruhan football stadium on October 1, 2022, in Malang, East Java. Fifteen-year-old Jovan Farellino was one of dozens of children killed after a match in the East Javan city of Malang that left 135 people dead, many from suffocation or trampling, in one of the worst tragedies in the sport's history. (AFP/Juni Kriswanto)
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ictims of unlawful arrest and police brutality have spoken out about the failure of the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) to protect citizens’ rights, urging lawmakers to address these flaws in the ongoing, rushed deliberation to revise the code.
Rusin, the father of Muhammad Fikri, who was wrongfully arrested by police in West Java in 2022, recounted how his son was falsely accused of robbery, tortured and coerced into confessing without access to legal counsel. Although Fikri was eventually released, the trauma remains.
“My family lost our sense of safety and trust in the law,” Rusin said during a victims’ forum organized by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) on Tuesday. “We want justice for Fikri and for every child at risk of wrongful arrest, prosecution and police violence.”
At the time, police claimed they had followed proper procedures, citing an internal investigation that found no evidence of wrongful arrest or case fabrication. But for Rusin, the experience told a very different story.
“This is the reality faced by Indonesians who have fallen victim to wrongful arrest,” he said to warn lawmakers not to disregard public input as they rush to revise the KUHAP. “Please listen to those of us who have experienced police violence firsthand.”
Read also: Ongoing KUHAP revision slammed for lacking public participation
Another speaker, Purwoko, shared a harrowing account of his family’s loss. His relative, Oki Kristiodiawan, died in 2023 after being tortured in a police detention cell in Banyumas, Central Java, just two weeks after his arrest.
