Coffee Trader In Tasikmalaya Who Chose To Be Locked Up In Prison Because He Didn't Have Money To Pay A Fine Of IDR 5 Million

TASIKMALAYA - Coffee traders who violated the emergency PPKM in Tasikmalaya, West Java chose to be locked up in prison for 3 days. He did not have the money to pay the Rp5 million fine.

The head of the Tasikmalaya District Attorney's Office, Fajaruddin Yusuf, said that the emergency PPKM violator, namely Asep Lutfi (23) the owner of a coffee shop in Tasikmalaya City, chose to be detained rather than pay a fine of IDR 5 million based on the results of the Tasikmalaya District Court trial.

"Based on the decision, he was asked to pay a fine of Rp. 5 million or a three-day imprisonment, after being confirmed, he chose to undergo confinement," Fajaruddin said as quoted by Antara, Friday, July 16.

He said that the violator of the emergency PPKM chose to go to prison because he did not have the money to pay the fine, so that according to the regulations he had to serve confinement in the Tasikmalaya Prison as a substitute for the fine.

Furthermore, violators who have been decided by the court, he said, must undergo confinement and coaching in prisons, not in the police station.

"In prison, because this has been decided, if it is at the police or prosecutor's office, it is a case that has not been signed or is still being investigated, if this is the case it has been signed," he said.

The violators of the emergency PPKM were first checked for their health conditions to ensure they were not exposed to COVID-19.

"We have coordinated with the prison, today an antigen health check will be carried out, then it will be handed over to the prison to serve the sentence based on the judge's decision," Fajaruddin continued.

There is only one case of violators of the emergency PPKM who chooses imprisonment. The rest of those who violate the PPKM choose to pay a fine with a different nominal.

"So far, only one person has chosen confinement rather than paying a fine, while others have paid the fine on the spot, some have been given one week's time," he said.

The Tasikmalaya City COVID-19 Handling Task Force continues to take firm actions and patrols to enforce emergency PPKM rules in order to prevent and break the chain of transmission of the COVID-19 outbreak.