Indonesian Police Screw Themselves Up
Mishandling of stadium riot highlights fact there is no impetus for reform
Indonesian President Joko Widodo and National Police Chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo are caught in the coils of trying to resurrect the credibility of the national police, shattered by a massive murder-sex scandal in July that claimed the career of one of its most powerful officials and tarnished dozens of junior officers, and later demolished further by their mishandling of an October riot at a football match that killed at least 131 people, in which the police were accused of using excessive force when controlling the fans.
At the outset of the sex-murder scandal, Jokowi instructed Listyo to handle the case quickly to try to save the police's image. But the president’s hopes have been dashed because the football tragedy has further tarnished the institution’s reputation. Although Malang police chief Ferli Hidayat – the official with responsibility over the football match – has been removed from his post and 18 other officers responsible for firing tear gas inside the stadium are under investigation, the president hasn’t sacked Listyo, a former Jokowi aide who led the Surakarta police in Central Java when the president was mayor of the city, or any of the other top officers who run what has been described as one of Asia’s most corrupt and inefficient law enforcement bodies.
Making matters worse, in the midst of the investigation into the sex-murder case, a graphic circulated on social media and chat groups about an illegal business network describing the relationship between high-ranking police officers, businessmen who are called 'crazy rich', and bookies in a number of areas in the country. The police were accused of protecting illegal businesses carried out by the consortium such as gambling, prostitution, smuggling of fake spare parts, subsidized diesel fuel, liquor, and illegal mining…