Indonesian police chief resigns after criticism over sex scandal

Indonesian police chief resigns after criticism over sex scandal

2011-03-02 02:26:44 GMT+7 (ICT)

PAPUA, INDONESIA (BNO NEWS) -- An Indonesian police chief on Tuesday resigned after being criticized over a sex scandal involving three of his subordinates and a female detainee in Papua province, the Jakarta Globe reported.

Jayapura Police Chief Imam Setiawan decide to resign due to the 'moral responsibility' for the incident in which three police officers forced a female detainee to perform oral sex on them.

"As the chief of the Jayapura Police force, I hold full responsibility for the immoral acts of my three subordinates," said Imam. "I consider myself to have failed in my duty, and am hence resigning my post."

The police head of Jayapura city also apologized to the relatives of the victim and to the citizens for the officers' actions. Furthermore, Imam labeled the involved officers as an aberration to the police force.

The scandal surfaced after a female detainee revealed that three officers forced her to perform oral sex on them over a three-month period while she was held at the Jayapura Police's detention center.

The prisoner was transferred to the Abepura Penitentiary after her February declarations. The incident took place between November 2010 and January 2011 after she was arrested for illegal gambling.

Chief Imam was heavily criticized after the three officers were only sentenced to 21 days in jail and received administrative sanctions. The police head alleged that unless a victim's relative pressed charges, a more severe punishment could not be imposed.

Human rights activists said that Imam should not have resigned but stayed in order to to ensure justice for the victim if he really wanted to resolve the scandal.

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