The President of KSPI, Said Iqbal, has said that he will fight until the workers who are the victims of violence carried out during the National Strike get justice.
He said this after visiting the 17 victims of violence at the Hosana Medika Hospital in Cikarang. According to him, it is not right that workers who pay tax and who make a large contribution to the growth of the national economy are nearly killed by hired thugs (preman), just because they joined a legal strike. He believes that the parties who deserve to be held responsible are the Chief of Police in Kabupaten Bekasi, the head of ASPELINDO, the leaders of the Pemuda Pancasila, Ikapud and other ‘community’ organizations.
He emphasized, that three of the 17 people who are being treated at the Hosana Medika Hospital are in a critical condition. One person could not be visited because he is being treated in intensive care in the ICU. He made clear that if one of the victims dies, then the workers will fight to demand that the Chief of Kabupaten Bekasi police is removed, and remove the leaders of Bekasi area who are suspected of being involved, including APINDO.
Said Iqbal said that KSPI together with Kontras and LBH will report this case of attempted murder to the Mabes Polri tomorrow (4/11), and ask Mabes Polri to catch whoever is the mastermind behind this incident of attempted murder. He also made clear that APINDO must take responsibility for their statement in which it was said that “It is better to pay preman rather than pay police in order to deal with worker demonstrations.”
The Director of Kontras, Hariz Azhar, said that Kontras has strong enough evidence to report the Chief of Kabupaten Bekasi Police and the Government of Kabupaten Bekasi in relation to the actions of attempted murder which were committed against 28 workers who are members of KNGB. Haris made clear that whatever was done by the preman and the Pemuda Pancasila constitutes attempted murder because it was structured and systematic and the perpetrators were left alone to go wild carrying sharp weapons such as samurai swords, machetes and axes.
He made clear that, together with the families of the victims, KNGB will report these acts of violence together with evidence of the involvement of the Kabupaten Bekasi Police Chief who ignored the violence of the preman and Pemuda Pancasila during the National Strike on 31 October, as well as evidence of the involvement of the government of Kabupaten Bekasi.
He stated that he will urge the Mabes Polri to catch and prosecute the mastermind of this attempted murder, because according to him, it is not enough if only the perpetrators on the ground are arrested while the mastermind who paid them goes free.