©Embun/Bal
This article was originally written and published in Indonesian on April 1, 2023.
The room was stuffy and quiet. The clock kept ticking, and the only sound came from the blustering of the cops’ mouths. A stink of sweat and blood washed over Ditto’s body. He struggled to breathe, panting. It was like a monster was chasing him.
Ditto, already weak after being severely beaten up, now sat drooping. In front of him, several police officers stood, surrounding his helpless form. Suddenly, a gun was pointed at his leg. He shivered as he felt the cold barrel against his leg. “Kowe pilih pincang opo ngaku?” The policeman threatened him in Javanese with a gun. With that, the policeman’s forefinger moved to the trigger. He was ready to pierce Ditto’s leg if the 18-year-old refused to sign the Investigation Report.
At that time, Ditto was only concerned about his safety. He remembered his dream of becoming a civil servant. If his leg was crippled, he could not enlist in the Indonesian Air Force. Therefore, without thinking, Ditto volunteered to put his signature on the Investigation Report. He did not know that the stabbing on April 3, 2022, was the reason for the pursuit of his confession.
In fact, since that night, the police had fervently pursued his confession. They constantly forced Ditto to confess as the perpetrator, no matter what it took. Before being threatened with a gun, Ditto refused to put his signature on the Investigation Report. He was beaten up repeatedly all over his body.
Tears welled up in Asri’s eyes as she recounted her son’s beating. She had heard the torture directly from his mouth. “We first met Ditto after the police arrested him. His chest and stomach were tight because he was hit there,” said Asri.
Ditto was allegedly accused of Daffa Adzin’s murder, the son of Madkhan Anis, one of the Kebumen Regional House of Representatives members in Central Java. On Sunday, April 3, 2022, Daffa and his friends were visiting a stall on the corner of Gedongkuning Street. Before they had parked their motorcycles, they were startled to hear motorcycles’ roar being driven off the road. The noise led them to chase after the bikers. Not long after, officers from the Yogyakarta Police Sabhara Directorate found Daffa in limps, covered in blood. He was rushed to the hospital but passed away there.
The news of Daffa’s passing had spread everywhere. Six days after the tragedy, the police arrested Ditto along with four of his friends, Ryan, Andi, Fandi, and Hanif, by order of the Yogyakarta Police Chief. The five boys were arrested without a warrant.
After piecing together the memory of the five kids’ arrests, they all seemed to have experienced an identical scenario. The police took them away on the pretense of investigating a sarong war* that had broken out on the same day of Daffa’s murder.
A Parent’s Search for the Missing Son
While Ditto was abused, Asri did not know about her son’s arrest. All she knew was that five policemen had visited her house before Ditto was taken into custody at his friend’s house. They argued they would seek a peaceful resolution to the sarong war between Ditto and his friends. Asri was shocked. She knew that her son had never been involved in the sarong war. “When the sarong war broke out on Sunday, April 3, 2022, Ditto was in a meeting for social assistance activities at Kedai Berkeley,” Asri explained.
A series of arrests took place at lightning speed, leaving the parents bewildered. “The policemen arrested my son without bringing any papers, not even meeting with the parents,” complained Menik, Fandi’s mother. She went straight to the Sewon police station after learning that her son had been arrested. However, the police did not allow her to see Fandi that day.
Upon returning home, Menik’s mind was in turmoil when she saw her son’s face featured on a news broadcast as a klitih** suspect of the Gedongkuning incident. She immediately returned to the Police Station to demand an explanation from the police. Panicked and worried, Menik complied with their directions. She also accepted a lawyer appointed by the police to undergo her son’s legal process. “We are law-illiterate, and we don’t have any money,” said Menik.
Her compliance paid off. Menik was able to speak with her son on Friday, April 15, 2022, through the investigator’s phone. However, her heart was torn apart instead of being relieved when she heard Fandi’s voice over the line. “Mom, take care of your health,” Fandi said, holding back his tears. She knew that her son could not say much. Fandi was forced to remain silent in front of the investigators who had been torturing him all night.
On Thursday, April 21, 2022, Menik finally had the opportunity to visit her son in person at Kotagede police station. There, worries crept over Menik when she saw her son’s battered condition. Her days were then filled with anxiety. Then, on Monday, April 25, 2022, Fandi expressed his desire to change his legal counsel. “I was only told to obey them when I am not the perpetrator, Mom,” Fandi revealed to his mother while undergoing a psychological test.
Not only Menik but Badriah, Hanif’s mother, was also rendered helpless by the police. Badriah hoped to glimpse her son, who was detained at Kotagede police station on Monday, April 11, 2022. She instead ended up seeing her son on television as the perpetrator of the klitih in the Gedongkuning case.
Badriah was forced to wait for a week without explanation. She was shaken when she finally met Hanif on Monday, April 18, 2022. Recalling that moment, Badriah fell silent while holding back her tears. “I saw that there were scratches from when the police hit him with the dried cow genitals on his arm,” Badriah explained. Her tears broke when she recounted the state of Hanif’s face, which had been smeared with red bruises.
“Ma, if I don’t confess, I will surely lose my life,” Hanif resigned to his mother. Hearing his son’s story, Badriah was furious. Her son was forced to admit to something he had not done. At that time, there was nothing Badriah could do but hug her poor son’s shoulders.
Ryan’s parents, Andi and Ditto, also felt the same way. Their children were forcibly arrested, made impossible to meet, and beaten arbitrarily. All of this was done to gain confession for actions they did not commit.
As if torturing the kids wasn’t enough, investigators dared to create fake scenarios for the reconstruction of the events. Like a puppet show, they were directed to move according to the wishes of the investigators. Andayani, Andi’s mother, was one of the parents who watched the reconstruction live. She was stunned to witness a policeman correcting Ryan when he spun the gear with the wrong hand. “In addition, the reconstruction was done in a closed manner so that no journalists were allowed to cover it,” Andayani said, revealing the anomalies that have colored the reconstruction process.
An Unexpected Court Outcome
In addition to the reconstruction, irregularities followed the five parents until the trial. When the trial time arrived on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, they were forced to watch their sons being cornered by evidence that did not match, even different from what was alleged. Moreover, the body size of the perpetrators caught on CCTV was also different from the defendants.
The CCTV footage used as evidence in the trial was suspected to have been deliberately tampered with. The legal counselors of the five kids sought the help of a laboratory team from the Faculty of Industrial Technology at the Islamic University of Indonesia (UII) to conduct digital forensic tests. The test results indicated that the CCTV footage had been downgraded. The quality, which should have been HD or MOP format, was changed to 3GP. Taufiqurrahman, Ditto’s legal counsel, was puzzled. “The victims’ witnesses were not examined, and the CCTV was also in poor quality. How can we identify the real perpetrator?”
In the trial annotation, one of the witnesses, Redy, retracted his statement regarding a gear as evidence. Redy said that the gear was not the actual gear that was used during the incident. He stated that the police had intimidated him. Therefore, he took the used gear from his brother’s house when they asked him for evidence.
However, these irregularities did not stop the judge from imposing a harsh sentence. When the verdict was delivered, Ryan, accused of being the perpetrator, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Meanwhile, the other four kids received shorter prison terms of 6 years. Knowing the verdict given to Ryan, Wahyuni was shaken. The thought of her son going to prison for a decade haunted her. Her legs became weak.
Seeing this happening, Zahru Arqom, Hanif and Fandi’s lawyer argued that the judge was unfair in imposing the verdict. He complained that the judge had not examined the evidence he had included in his appeal. With CCTV evidence showing that the defendants were not at the scene when Daffa was assaulted, Arqom was confident they would be acquitted. “If the evidence is accepted, the kids should be free. However, the judge ruled out all the evidence,” said Arqom.
He was disappointed with the judge, who did not listen to his defense. “They are paid for what they did. Their position is to uphold justice, but there is no justice in this court,” Arqom fumed. The latest news on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Indonesia (ORI) Yogyakarta submitted a Final Report of Inspection Results (LAHP) with registration number 0106/LM/VII/2022/YOG on the Gedongkuning klitih case to the parents. There are legal maladministration and procedural defects found in the LAHP. In its letter, the ORI Yogyakarta Representative asked the Yogyakarta Police to examine the investigator by 30 days from February 1.
Not only that but the maladministration committed by the police was also challenged by Amnesty International Indonesia. According to the Executive Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, Usman Hamid, the police acted without proper criminal procedure when arresting the five suspects. Amnesty International Indonesia also sent a letter to the Chief of the Indonesian Police to thoroughly investigate the investigators in the Gedongkuning klitih case.
In the end, the Deputy Chief of Police of Yogyakarta, Brigadier General Raden Slamet Santoso, acknowledged the violence committed by the investigators. Andi Rezaldy, Head of Kontras Legal Division, said the admission was stated in a recommendation letter from the National Commission on Human Rights Indonesia (Komnas HAM). He also suspects that the violence was committed by a member of the police.
The courts have succeeded in putting the five kids behind bars. However, the parents’ struggle to get justice for their children did not end at the court. They sought news coverage so that the case would receive public attention. Menik even hopes the Chief of Police will open his ears regarding the tragedy that occurred to his son. “We want the officers who have mistreated our kids to be investigated thoroughly,” Menik demanded.
The Birth of Orang Tua Bergerak Movement
Sitting tightly together, the center room of the Social Movement Institute (SMI) headquarters that day was filled with people exchanging responses. On Wednesday, December 28, 2022, the parents and those who accompanied their efforts discussed future advocacy strategies for resistance. “Later, during the release of Ms. Andayani’s book, we will hold a public discussion,” suggested Andrini.
Andrini was one of the people present during the trial. Her close relationship with the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) prompted her to monitor this case. After attending trial after trial, Andrini realized that a more massive advocacy effort was needed to expand the scope of this issue. With her background in advocacy campaign communications, she suggested the ideas to the parents.
The suggestion was to create social media accounts. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook were created in the name of this movement. “Information gathered during the trial will be processed into content in the hope of increasing public attention,” Andini explained.
After discussions with other parents, Andrini asked all legal counselors to join the movement. Various groups of people were also invited. “We tried to consolidate with non-governmental organizations, legal aid, journalists, and students,” Andayani explained. A collective movement called Orang Tua Bergerak was finally formed.
SMI responded swiftly to the parents’ request for consolidation. “We consider the processes from arrest to trial to be full of actions that are not following the law,” said Eko Prasetyo, SMI representative. Future advocacy strategies are often implemented at the SMI secretariat.
The strategy is divided into two programs, namely litigation and non-litigation. The discussion of legal steps is part of litigation. Orang Tua Bergerak tries to contact relevant institutions, such as Komnas HAM and ORI, to continue the legal process to the center through cassation applications.
Meanwhile, the non-litigation program is implemented through discussions focused on public advocacy campaigns. Through its social media, Orang Tua Bergerak actively conducts discussions related to the cases they are fighting for. One of them was a discussion on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, which addressed Andayani’s book entitled Memburu Keadilan. The book contains Andayani’s experience as a mother while facing her son’s wrongful arrest case.
Another effort was the distribution of posters. Every street corner in Jogja was decorated with posters questioning justice. Not only that, the weekly Kamisan event in Yogyakarta, an ongoing call for justice for the victims of human rights violations in Indonesia driven by their surviving family members, has also raised the theme of this klitih arrest case over the past few months. The movement and the widespread news made them change their name to Warga Bergerak.
“We need the attention from the people of Yogyakarta because, behind this arrest, there is a very extraordinary manipulation,” Eko pleaded. This is because, according to him, all teenagers can become victims of further manipulations. Therefore, this case is a momentum for cleaning up law enforcement to be more fair and transparent.
In the future, Warga Bergerak will prepare a cassation memorandum for the Supreme Court. “We are waiting for an official decision from the court of appeal. We will deposit it with the Supreme Court when it is available,” said Andayani. Public education in the future will also be increased. Warga Bergerak keeps on thriving to improve the case’s attention to national and even international scope.
Warga Bergerak’s chain of efforts will continue to unravel without being cut off. As Andayani writes in her book, the pursuit of justice is a shared responsibility. “Today, Andi and his friends are experiencing case manipulation. Tomorrow, other teenagers could become victims of the authorities’ brutality,” said Andayani.
“Do not remain silent; keep fighting back!” Andayani wrote on the last page of Memburu Keadilan.
***
BALAIRUNG has requested an interview with the Yogyakarta Police in February to learn more about the case, especially in response to the recommendations made by the Ombudsman and Komnas HAM. However, the police said that interviews about the Gedongkuning klitih case could not be conducted soon at that time. “Sorry, the data (related to the case) is not yet available because it has not been finalized,” Verena Sri Wayhuningsih, Public Relations of Yogyakarta Police, told BALAIRUNG. Ultimately, the interview was only generally about handling street violence cases on March, 6.
Apparently, the police do not yet have a specific training program to deal with street crime. “If we talk about special training for police personnel dealing with street crime, there is no specific training for that. However, there is general training because law enforcement is not only street crime,” Verena emphasized.
In the latest news, during a press conference on Komnas HAM’s findings last Tuesday, March 28, 2023, Andayani and other parents said that the Yogyakarta Police Chief had conducted an ethics trial against two members who were suspected of committing abuse. At the trial, which was held on March 21, 2023, the five defendants and one of the parents, Badriah, were invited as witnesses. There, Badriah presented some evidence confirming the abuse of their children, including a recording of a conversation with the police about the abuse. However, the trial has not been decided as it is still in the investigation phase.
Now, the problem is still an important record. Five victims are still in prison, waiting for justice to come to visit them behind bars.
Translator’s note:
*The tradition of sarong war is an activity that is performed to fill the activities after Suhoor or tarawih prayer in the month of Ramadan, especially in a lot of cities on Java Island. The sarong war is more of a game where the sarong, with the tip raised and rounded, is used as a weapon to attack the opponent but actually does not hurt. The sarong war has now turned into a brawl – occurring fights between groups and sometimes the sarong is filled with stones.
**Klitih was initially defined as an ordinary walk without a specific goal in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. In the context of juvenile crime, nglitih or klitih refers to riding around in a vehicle driven by a group of fraudulent kids, looking for other students who are considered enemies. Klitih can also be interpreted as circling the city aimlessly.
Authors: Catharina Maida Muhamartha, M. Fahrul Muharman, Sidney Alvionita Saputra
Editors: Bambang Muryanto and M. Fauzi Ramadhan
Illustrator: Embun Dinihari
Translator: Parama Bisatya