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Analysis: ‘Premanisme’ part of Indonesia’s business landscape, small or large
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Jakarta Police show suspects of various street crimes arrested during a special operation ahead of the 18th Asian Games. (Jakarta Police's documentation/-)
T
he National Police have launched a massive crackdown on preman (thugs), following a series of high-profile cases of violence and extortion linked to them that embarrassed the country in the eyes of foreign investors. While some of those arrested will face prosecution, it is unlikely that the larger organizations behind them will be dissolved as President Prabowo Subianto has ordered.
Police said this week that they had rounded up 2,406 alleged preman in an 11-day operation in Jakarta alone, though only 231 were slated to face a court trial. The rest would be freed for lack of sufficient evidence. Police in other regions also reported arrests, the majority over alleged extortion, but others for violence, illegal debt collecting, muggings, theft, and possession of a weapon.
We have seen many similar campaigns in the past to know that things on the ground aren’t likely to change. Those arrested are small-time crooks, usually running protection rackets in markets and managing parking lots, mostly targeting small-scale traders but also motorists at times. They will lay low for now, and once the police clampdown ends, they will return and things will go back to “normal”.
Many thugs are part of legitimate mass organizations registered with the Home Ministry, however, making it hard for the government to disband them.
These groups are mostly militias with large memberships, some easily recognizable by their uniforms. They gain legitimacy from offering various services, such as providing supplementary support to police in securing big gatherings like political rallies and working as debt collectors for companies or individuals. Some enjoy the patronage of powerful politicians, political parties, and even the police, the military, or local administrations.
Notoriety is part of their public persona, so few dare to challenge or report, let alone fight, them. They have no qualms at being labeled preman, which derives from the Dutch term vrijman, meaning “freeman” and referred to colonial subjects not tied to any contract or bond. It evolved over the centuries, and it now refers to people outside the law.
One preman group that has recently attracted public attention is the United Indonesian People’s Movement (GRIB Jaya), founded in 2012 by Rosario “Hercules” Marshal, over a series of brushes with the law.
