JAKARTA: The National Police’s ethics commission has punished two Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers who were on board a tactical vehicle that hit and killed an ojol (motorcycle transportation driver) during a protest in Jakarta last week, as the police move the case to a possible criminal investigation.
During an ethics hearing held by the National Police’s internal affairs division (Propam) on Wednesday (Sept. 3), the ethics commission concluded that Comr. Cosmas Kaju Gae had committed a serious breach of the police’s professional code of ethics when handling the Aug. 28 protest.
The commission dishonorably discharged Cosmas, commander of Brimob’s Fourth Pelolpor Regiment Battalion A often tasked with safeguarding protests, for his “reprehensible act”. As commanding officer, Cosmas sat in the passenger seat when the tactical vehicle hit 21-year-old ojol Affan Kurniawan in Central Jakarta, who was reportedly crossing the street to deliver a food order at the time of the incident.
His death later caused outrage, escalating nationwide protests against lawmakers’ lavish allowances into riots in several regions.
At a separate ethics hearing on Thursday, the tactical vehicle driver Chief Brig. Rohmat was also found to be in breach of the police’s professional code and engaged in disgraceful conduct.
He was punished with a seven-year demotion and a 20-day internal disciplinary punishment from Propam. Rohmat was handed a lighter punishment than Cosmas as he was not acting on his own volition and followed orders from his superior, who sat next to him in the passenger seat when the tactical vehicle hit and killed Affan.
The commission also concluded Rohmat had his vision impaired during the incident due to tear gas and the vehicle being pelted with stones and firecrackers hurled by protesters.
It also concluded Affan fell into the vehicle’s blind spot, with the driver unable to see him. Both Cosmas and Rohmat told the commission they would consider whether to appeal the ruling.
During his hearing, Cosmas told the panel that he “had no intention of causing the incident or harming anyone”, while sharing his deep condolences with the victim’s family.
National Police Commission (Kompolnas), the force’s external oversight body that observed the hearing, said the session was conducted “in line with proper conditions and without pressure or fabrication”, commissioner Ida Oetari Poernamasasi said in a press briefing on Thursday.
Propam found Cosmas and Rohmat had committed serious ethics violations during the Affan incident. Meanwhile, five other Brimob officers who sat in the backseat of the vehicle were charged with medium ethics violations.
Ethics hearings into the five remaining officers are scheduled for next week, Kompolnas commissioner Choirul Anam said on Friday, stopping short of mentioning a specific date.
Anam, who represented the oversight body during the Propam investigation, recommended all seven officers be subject to criminal investigation for their roles in the incident.
National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko was not immediately available when contacted by The Jakarta Post on Friday for further comment. However, he said on Wednesday that the case had been transferred to the police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim). “The transfer has been in effect since [Tuesday], and Bareskrim will follow it up,” he said.
Security analyst Bambang Rukminto of the Institute for Security and Strategic Studies noted a “stark disparity” between the punishments for Cosmas and Rohmat, which he described as a “mere formality and populist move to appease public pressure”.
He argued dishonorable discharge should only be imposed on personnel proven to have committed a violation with intent. Bambang stressed the need for a criminal investigation into the case to determine whether such malicious intent existed.
“Whether it’s intentional or not must be answered in court,” Bambang said on Friday, adding that Bareskrim should gather more evidence and witness testimonies for the court to deliver a fair ruling.
Criminal law expert Hibnu Nugroho of Jenderal Soedirman University said the rulings were appropriate, reflecting the police’s command-based management structure, which emphasises that subordinates cannot be directly blamed under such a system.
“But it would be different once the case reaches a criminal court,” he said, “as civilian courts only assess individual responsibility regardless of rank or structure.” - The Jakarta Post/ANN
