It was only recently that the RI 1 presidential car – arguably the most important car in Indonesia – became a viral darling after being photographed waiting in traffic jams with all the rest of the civilian cars instead of having its motorcade forcibly paving way for it.
It’s certainly a great example to set for Indonesian politicians regarding motorcade etiquette, but it seems one motorcade did not get the memo.
Yesterday, through Facebook posts that have gone viral, two people complained about the conduct of one or several police officers who were escorting the RI 63 official car in Jakarta.
The first is a complaint in the form of an open letter by Robert Adhi Kusumaputra. According to him, he was stuck in traffic on the Jakarta Outer Ring Road (JORR) when the RI 63 motorcade tried to pass from behind him. Unable to move his car to make way, Robert said that one of the police escorts got off his motorcycle and punched his car’s side view mirror.
“I think he suspected that I was trying to take advantage of the space ahead. But I was actually looking for space to drive into to give the RI 63 a chance to pass me,” Robert told Tribun today.
Robert said he’s not going to press charges against the officer, as the damage to his car was relatively minor.
“I didn’t have any misgivings about giving way to a politician’s car because I thought these politicians must be working hard for our country,” he said.
In a separate occasion, which reportedly happened some time after the incident with Robert, the same motorcade got into an incident with a citizen named Prasetyo Dewanto in Tomang.
Prasetyo said he was stuck in traffic in Tomang when a police escort rammed his motorcycle twice into the back of his car. Prasetyo said he demanded compensation for the damage from the escort, but instead the escort arrogantly asked him who he was and the two engaged in a small physical altercation, resulting in a small cut on Prasetyo’s arm.
The escortee inside the RI 63, who Prasetyo identified as Deputy Constitutional Court Judge Anwar Usman, asked Prasetyo to come along with the motorcade to the Constitutional Court building. There, the escort and his higher up admitted they were wrong and apologized for the incident, and offered to pay compensation for the damages caused.
However, Prasetyo refused the offer and instead said that he would post photos from the incident on Facebook in order to raise awareness that such arrogant behavior from motorcade escorts is illegal and should not be tolerated.
Constitutional Court Spokesman Fajar Laksono confirmed that the RI 63 is the official car for Anwar Usman.
“As far as I know, the issue is finished. Pak [Anwar Usman] even opened his window to give a solution [to Prasetyo]. If there were any misunderstandings, it was settled amicably. There was no arrogance,” he said, as quoted by Detik.
No formal charges were reportedly filed with the authorities, but the Jakarta Traffic Police say they may look into the incidents.
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