Commission III Of The House Of Representatives Urges The Police To Completely Investigate The Judol Network Which Involves 600,000 Jakarta Residents

Illustration. Residents see online gambling advertisements through their smartphones in Jakarta, Wednesday 19 June 2024. (ANTARA PHOTO-Aprillio Akbar)

JAKARTA - Member of Commission III of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Hasbiallah Ilyas, highlighted the findings of the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) which recorded as many as 600 thousand Jakarta residents involved in online gambling activities (judol) with a transaction value of IDR 3 trillion throughout 2024.

He urged the Indonesian Police (Polri) to thoroughly investigate the Judol network involving hundreds of thousands of Jakarta residents.

"I urge the National Police to thoroughly investigate the network and the perpetrators behind this practice," Hasbi told reporters, Monday, October 27.

Hasbi assessed that the PPATK findings show that online gambling has developed into extraordinary crimes that not only damage people's morale but also have broad social and economic impacts.

This is no longer a matter of entertainment or minor offenses. Online gambling has become a serious crime that destroys families, the economy, and even public trust in law enforcement," he said.

He also encouraged the government to stop the rights of citizens as recipients of social assistance (bansos), if the person concerned is proven to be involved in online gambling. According to him, the use of aid money for illicit activities is a form of irregularities that cannot be tolerated.

If there are social assistance recipients who turn out to be involved in online gambling, then the social assistance must be stopped. The state has helped, but instead it is misused for destructive things," said Hasbi.

He also asked the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government (Pemprov) to take firm action against state civil servants (ASN) who were caught playing online gambling.

"ASN must be an example for the community. If someone is involved, the sanctions must be firm, even up to dismissal. There should be no tolerance for actors in the bureaucracy," said the PKB legislator from the DKI Jakarta I electoral district.

Furthermore, Hasbi reminded that eradicating online gambling requires cross-institutional cooperation, ranging from PPATK, Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi), OJK, to law enforcement officials.

He also emphasized that public education and digital supervision should be strengthened to prevent more and more victims from falling.

"This is a moral and social emergency. The government must move quickly and comprehensively to break the chain of online gambling at all levels of society," he concluded.