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View all search resultsBrimob officers discharged, demoted over Affan’s death
A National Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officer was dishonorably discharged while his subordinate faced demotion for their role in the killing of 21-year-old motorcycle transportation driver Affan Kurniawan during a protest in Jakarta on Aug. 28.
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Comr. Cosmas Kaju Gae (fifth left), commander of the National Police Mobile Brigade's (Brimob) Fourth Pelopor Regiment Battalion A, is escorted out of the National Police's Transnational Crime Center building in Jakarta on Sept. 3, 2025. An ethics hearing dishonorably discharged Cosmas after finding him guilty of committing a serious ethical violation that caused the death of 21-year-old motorcycle transportation driver Affan Kurniawan during a violent protest in Jakarta on Aug. 28, 2025. (Antara/Indrianto Eko Suwarso)
T
he National Police’s ethics commission has punished two Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers who were on board a tactical vehicle that hit and killed an ojol (motorcycle transportation driver) during a protest in Jakarta last week, as the police move the case to a possible criminal investigation.
During an ethics hearing held by the National Police’s internal affairs division (Propam) on Wednesday, the ethics commission concluded that Comr. Cosmas Kaju Gae had committed a serious breach of the police’s professional code of ethics when handling the Aug. 28 protest.
The commission dishonorably discharged Cosmas, commander of Brimob’s Fourth Pelolpor Regiment Battalion A often tasked with safeguarding protests, for his “reprehensible act”.
As commanding officer, Cosmas sat in the passenger seat when the tactical vehicle hit 21-year-old ojol Affan Kurniawan in Central Jakarta, who was reportedly crossing the street to deliver a food order at the time of the incident. His death later caused outrage, escalating nationwide protests against lawmakers’ lavish allowances into riots in several regions.
At a separate ethics hearing on Thursday, the tactical vehicle driver Chief Brig. Rohmat was also found to be in breach of the police’s professional code and engaged in disgraceful conduct. He was punished with a seven-year demotion and a 20-day internal disciplinary punishment from Propam.
Rohmat was handed a lighter punishment than Cosmas as he was not acting on his own volition and followed orders from his superior, who sat next to him in the passenger seat when the tactical vehicle hit and killed Affan.
The commission also concluded Rohmat had his vision impaired during the incident due to tear gas and the vehicle being pelted with stones and firecrackers hurled by protesters. It also concluded Affan fell into the vehicle’s blind spot, with the driver unable to see him.
