President Jokowi addresses tragic kidnapping and assault case, emphasizes legal process

INDONESIA: President Joko Widodo, commonly known as Jokowi, has broken his silence regarding the disturbing incident involving members of the Presidential Security Force (Paspampres) who abducted and fatally assaulted a young man from Aceh.

The President has affirmed that the case will be handed over to the legal system for proper investigation and justice.

Speaking at the inauguration of the 18th National Working Meeting of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (Himpunan Pengusaha Muda Indonesia; HIPMI) 2023, held at the Indonesia Convention Exhibition (ICE) in BSD Tangerang on Thursday (31 Aug), President Jokowi urged all parties to respect the ongoing legal proceedings.

He stated, “Respect the existing legal process; everyone is equal in the eyes of the law.”

President Joko Widodo.

Young man’s tragic demise reveals shocking involvement of soldiers in abduction case

The incident revolves around the unfortunate demise of a young man named Imam Masykur (25) from Aceh, who was abducted and subjected to a fatal assault. Shockingly, the perpetrators involved in this heinous act were revealed to be three soldiers from the Indonesian National Army (TNI).

Among the assailants, one is identified as a member of the Presidential Security personnel, known as Praka RM.

The Military Police Command (Pomdam) Jaya/Jayakarta uncovered that the motive behind the perpetrators’ involvement in the alleged kidnapping, torture, and eventual death of Imam Masykur was economic in nature.

Colonel (Military Police Corps) Irsyad Hamdie Bey Anwar, the Commander of the Military Police in the Jakarta Military District (Danpomdam Jaya), disclosed, “The motive was ransom money, as the suspects and the victim were not acquainted with each other.”

The authorities have taken swift action to respond to these grave actions.

Members of the Presidential Security Detail and the two other individuals implicated in the crime have been apprehended and officially designated as suspects.

“One of them is from the Presidential Security Force, while the others are not,” it was confirmed.

Colonel Irsyad Hamdie Bey Anwar further revealed the sequence of events leading to the arrest of the three TNI Army personnel, who were suspects in the kidnapping and assault case involving Imam Masykur.

He clarified that the apprehension was not in the conventional sense of a “capture.”

Instead, the authorities traced the suspects through collaboration with the Jakarta Metropolitan Police, based on the mobile phone number of Imam, which had been sold by Soldier Chief (Praka) RM following the abduction.

Soldier Chief (Praka) RM. (Photo: the documentary of Tribusnews.com)

How the tracing of a stolen mobile phone exposed the case

“In short, here’s what happened. The victim’s mobile phone, taken by one of the perpetrators, Soldier Chief (Praka) RM, was then sold. We worked with the Jakarta Metropolitan Police to trace that number and eventually located Soldier Chief (Praka) RM,” Colonel Irsyad explained.

The tracing process became feasible due to the consistent correlation between the mobile number of Soldier Chief (Praka) RM and the victim, who were frequently in the same place at the same time.

” Soldier Chief (Praka) RM’s number was registered under the victim’s name. They were together at the same place for a certain period, and that’s when we identified Soldier Chief (Praka) RM’s identity,” he elaborated.

Adding to the unfolding narrative, Colonel Irsyad Hamdie Bey Anwar detailed that the three culprits had posed as police officers during the abduction of Imam, who was selling medicines and cosmetics at the time.

“Soldier Chief (Praka) RM was aware that this group sold illegal medicines, and they knew that the victim would likely not report the incident to the police after being kidnapped and extorted,” he said.