Just two weeks after police arrested a group of divers who had filmed themselves riding a whale shark in West Papua (viral video of which drew outrage from animal rights activists), the Yogyakarta Police apologized for three of its officers that were caught posing for a photo with their feet atop the carcass of another dead whale shark.
Proses penguburan Hiu Tutul mati di Pantai Parangkusumo dilakukan Senin 27 Agustus 2018 sore. Ditpolair Polda DIY harus mendatangkan escavator untuk membuat lubang besar. Untuk membuat lubang yang besar sendiri dibutuhkan waktu hampir satu jam. pic.twitter.com/2WbzzJN83w
— Polda D.I. Yogyakarta (@PoldaJogja) August 27, 2018
The official Yogyakarta Police Twitter account recently posted the above video showing the burial of a large shark carcass that had washed up on Parangkusumo Beach in Bantul Regency on Monday afternoon. The video notes that the burial required an excavator to dig a very large hole for the 4-meter long, 1-ton shark, a task which took about two hours.
Terkait kejadian tiga Anggota kami yang tertangkap kamera sempat menaiki ikan hiu tutul mati tersebut, kami memohon maaf. Tidak ada maksud tertentu atas peristiwa tersebut.
— Polda D.I. Yogyakarta (@PoldaJogja) August 27, 2018
A follow-up tweet read: “Related to this three of our officers were caught on camera stepping on the dead leopard sharks. For that we apologize. There is no specific intent behind this event.”
Here is the photo in question, which media reports say first went viral when shared in a Facebook group for Yogyakarta residents.
Fotonya Viral, Tiga Polisi Injak Bangkai Hiu Kena Sanksi https://t.co/Pdk1CVfaNm pic.twitter.com/nScflgf6ja
— Sono Marso (@nunublackghotic) August 28, 2018
There is also video this video of the officers with the shark.
https://youtu.be/8P1O5OStZgA
Yogyakarta Police head spokesperson Yuliyanto confirmed the the photo was real and said that the officers regretted their behavior. However it seems unlikely they will face any legal repercussions.
“Actually, there were no rules that were violated in the incident,” Yuliyanto said today as quoted by Viva, adding that the officers would nonetheless be internally investigated and given the appropriate sanctions.
Correction: It was a whale shark, not a leopard shark. Thanks Kate!
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