A member of the Indonesian police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) anti-riot squad was killed and a member of the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus) injured in an attack on Jalan Palatehan near Blok M in South Jakarta on Sunday morning, 18 April 2021.
Witnesses found the two victims lying on the sidewalk outside the Obama Fans Club after a beating by a group of assailants. The policeman was taken by taxi to nearby Pertamina Hospital at 7.30am and pronounced dead at 7.41am. Reports said the policeman, identified as Yohanes Samuel Biet, had suffered multiple wounds and died due to blood loss.
The Kopassus member, Donatus Boyau, was taken to Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital in Senen, Central Jakarta, for treatment for stab wounds to his right arm and right thigh.
South Jakarta Military Command chief Colonel Ucu Yustiana said the attack was still under investigation. The case is being handled by Jakarta Police, who are interviewing six witnesses. Jakarta Police detective chief Tubagus Ade Hidayat told detik.com online news portal the witnesses were strongly suspected of having knowledge of the attack.
CCTV footage of Sunday’s attack shows a group of men ganging up on at least one individual, who falls to the sidewalk.
On Monday, police tape was still affixed to the entrance of Obama Fans Club, which is located near My Bar nightspot. Bloodstains and broken beer bottles were visible at the scene.
A parking attendant, named Faruq, said the incident occurred at around 6.30am Sunday. He said the location is usually quiet on Sunday mornings because the offices are closed and only the only bar still open at dawn on Sundays is Obama Fans Club.
Obama Fans Club was originally located on Jakarta’s old backpacker strip of Jalan Jaksa, but had to close down to make way for the Morrissey hotel, named after the anti-establishment former front-man of 1980s British band The Smiths. Obama Fans Club then relocated to Jalan Palatehan, a street that has long served as a red-light area but in the past decade has started to gentrify, with some bars being replaced by offices as online dating apps supplant the popularity of pick-up bars.
At its new location, Obama Fans Club became somewhat more exclusive, although it has been notorious for violence, with preman (gangsters) occasionally attacking obstreperous customers and even sometimes feuding with police and soldiers.
Jakarta’s nightlife venues are supposed to close early during Ramadhan and the coronavirus pandemic, but it is not unknown for some establishments to pay bribes in order for authorities to turn a blind eye to the flagrant flouting of the rules.
Violence involving members of the security forces sometimes occurs at Jakarta nightspots known for prostitution activities. In February, a drunk policeman shot and killed three people, including an Army member, at RM Cafe in Cengkareng, West Jakarta. After that incident, the National Police chief banned policemen from patronizing nightlife venues.
photo courtesy berita.yahoo