“Over RM700K seized” – Indonesian Police Confirms Its Officers Extorted M’sians at Music Festival in Jakarta

The police force in Indonesia has recently confirmed that its officers had extorted 45 Malaysians during a music festival in Jakarta.

In a press conference, the Head of the National Police’s Profession and Security Division (Propam), Inspector General Abdul Karim, stated that a whopping IDR 2.5 billion (RM718,068) was seized as evidence.

The bribe money was extorted by the corrupted police officers during the Djakarta Warehouse Project (DWP) 2024, and 2 official complaints were filed by Malaysians following the incident.

Abdul Karim added that the case is being closely monitored by external bodies such as the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) to ensure transparency and fairness in the investigation.

 “We are serious about dealing with any form of violation committed by our police officers, and we will take strict action against anyone, regardless of who the victim is,” Abdul Karim said during the press conference.

The Indonesian authorities, however, did not disclose the identities of the Malaysians who lodged the report due to privacy purposes.

Last week, many Malaysian concertgoers took to their social media and shared their horrific experience of being extorted by the Indonesian police despite not violating any laws and passing drug tests.

Some also said that they were allegedly detained by the police and had their passports confiscated as they couldn’t pay the hefty bribe, which was as high as RM241,000.

DWP also released a statement, saying that over 400 Malaysians were affected by the incident, and the Indonesian police allegedly collected as much as RM9 million in bribes.

We hope the authorities in Indonesia will handle the matter fairly and without bias and bring the perpetrators to justice.

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