Instances of sudden mob violence are not that unusual in Indonesia, but the police holding members of those mobs accountable is (though that seems to be changing). We’ll leave it to you to decide whether justice is being done in this case.
On August 30, a car that was illegally driving in the TransJakarta busway on Jalan Hayam Wuruk in West Jakarta got attacked by a mob while stuck between the busway’s barrier and other vehicles. Video of the terrifying incident – which saw the desperate driver try to escape the mob’s wrath by driving over the barrier, only to get stuck on top of it – quickly went viral.
https://twitter.com/JakartaHeadline/status/1035135272931868672
According to the police, the mob gave chase to the car because the driver, identified as 40-year-old Jakarta citizen named Franky, had attempted a hit-and-run after previously scraping his car against a pedestrian. Luckily for Franky, the police got to him before the enraged crowd could seriously hurt him, as often happens in cases of mob justice in Indonesia. Luckily for everybody else, nobody suffered any major injuries including the pedestrian Franky hit.
Police said that Franky was found to have tested positive for methamphetamines although there were no illegal drugs in his car. They said the next step for him would be rehabilitation.
But several others involved in the incident besides Franky are now facing legal problems as well. Police arrested five people suspects for attacking Franky’s car in the viral video and said they are still pursuing two more suspects. They are being charged with assault and destruction of property, a charge which carries up to seven years in prison.
Police implored the public to not engage in mob justice and leave the punishment to the police.
“I hope that the community can restrain themselves. Not all problems can be resolved through anarchic actions and destruction, because it just raises new problems,” Taman Sari Police Chief Ruly Indra said yesterday as quoted by Detik.
