A 27-year-old man with the initials “JS” in Payakumbuh city, West Sumatra, has been arrested for wearing a red T-shirt with a hammer-and-sickle logo – the symbol of communism – displayed on it.
According to the commander of the 0306/50 city district military command (Kodim), Lieutenant Colonel Ferry Lahe, the man was arrested on Tuesday June 30 at around 7.10 pm local time.
Earlier, a local person had seen the man wearing the T-shirt and reported this to the Babinsa – a non-commissioned military officer posted in villages and wards.
“Initially the resident’s information was passed on to one of our officers and then to me. We then passed it on to the police, along with the criminal investigation unit he was arrested and taken to the district police”, said Lahe when contacted by langkan.id on Thursday July 2.
Lahe said that the hammer-and-sickle was quite big and located on the front of the T-shirt. The man confessed that he had bought the T-shirt online.
“The information was that it was (bought) online, that’s the initial information. But the exact details, that’s what the police are delving into”, he said.
The man has already been handed over to the Payakumbuh police and Lahe said that the case would be handled entirely by police.
When sought for confirmation meanwhile, Payakumbuh district police criminal investigations head Deputy Police Commissioner M Rosidie was unable to provide any information because he was in a meeting.
“I’m in a meeting, phone again later okay”, he said.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Pakai Baju Palu Arit Hasil Beli di OL Shop, Pria Payakumbuh Ditangkap”.]
