Many have criticized Indonesia’s mainstream political parties for endorsing legislative candidate who had previously been convicted on corruption charges, but at least none of those ex-con candidates led an actual gang of thieves.
But police in Bogor say that one would-be legislator running to represent their region in next month’s election is the leader of a band of robbers.
Police have identified the candidate by his initials SP but have not revealed which political party he is affiliated with. SP was arrested along with four other suspects last Wednesday.
“The person concerned (SP) acted as the team leader,” Bogor Police Criminal Investigation Head Benny Cahyadi said as quoted by Detik.
According to the police, SP’s gang of thieves have been operating for about three months. Their modus operandi has been to use nails or broken glass traps to puncture the tires of their intended victims’ cars and then rob then when they stopped to repair their tires.
During their arrest, police secured evidence of their crimes including spark plugs, mobile phones and around IDR40 million (US$987) in cash. Police are still investigating whether any of the stolen money might have been used to pay for SP’s campaign.
While the unidentified candidate will likely be dropped by his party once police make his identity public, under Indonesian law he could still theoretically run while undergoing trial and serve if he was found not guilty.
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