The former chief of Kuta Police has been removed from active roles for a year after an Australian buck’s party group had to pay a $25,000 bribe for hiring a stripper on his watch.
The ex-Kuta Police chief, Ida Bagus Dedy Januarta, benefited from the scam and was “convincingly guilty of breaching the police ethical code”, an ethics court decided this month.
In addition to his demotion, Januarta must say he’s sorry.
“He also must apologize to the Bali Provincial Police chief and up to the National Police Chief for tainting the image of the National Police,” Bali Police spokesman Hery Wiyanto said, as quoted by News Corp Australia.
The now infamous incident that got Januarta and 12 other officers in trouble was on Feb. 26 last year in Seminyak, when security guards bearing guns and tasers raided Australian Mark Ipaviz’s bachelor party, all because the bucks had hired a stripper.
Violence ensued, and some of the Australian men were shocked with tasers, while one was hit on the head with a bottle, and another was pistol whipped and threatened with death. From there, the Australians and the stripper were rushed to a police station and 24 hours later were made to withdraw $25,000 in cash under the threat of being charged with indecency which could land them 10 years in jail.
The extortion scandal stayed quiet from Feb. until June 2015, when the story of the corruption allegations first broke.
When the news became public, Bali Police launched an internal investigation into the scandal and cleared four of the 12 officers implicated of any wrongdoing—whilst the others who weren’t so lucky were shamed and had to stand in the hot sun for their “cheeky, insolent, and brash” behavior.
