Jokowi Denies Online Gamblers Get Social Assistance, Coordinating Minister For Human Development And Culture Muhadjir Now Corrects His Statement

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy/ANTARA/Lintang Budiyanti Prameswari)

Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture (Menko PMK) Muhadjir Effendy stated that his party was focused on dealing with victims who suffered losses due to online gambling.

"As we did in the case of the crime of trafficking in persons (TPPO), which has been more focused on after the eradication operation, then when there are victims, that's what we rehabilitate, especially from the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, we will focus on post-operation, which later we may have victims to handle," said Muhadjir at the office of the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, Jakarta, reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, June 19.

Muhadjir also said that later there might be additions such as education or socialization by technical ministries, such as the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Religion, or the Ministry of Social Affairs regarding the handling of victims of online gambling, because the victims may also need assistance in the form of psychological consultations.

Tidak berarti kemudian diberi sembako, karena skema bansos itu sebagian besar nonmaterial. Untuk Program Keluarga Harapan (PKH) atau Bantuan Pangan Noncanai juga lewat rekening, juga ada konsultasi psikologis, rehabilitasi sosial kan banyak sekali," tuturnya.

The gambling case resurfaced after the case of a female police officer (polwan) in Mojokerto City with the initials Brigadier FN who burned her husband Brigadier Rian Dwi Wicaksono (RDW) who is also a member of the National Police in Mojokerto due to frequent spending money that should have been used to finance the lives of his three children to play online gambling.

"The wife, in my opinion, is one of the victims, psychological victims, and if I investigate, yesterday I also happened to visit the location and also discussed with several people who knew her, it was dating since high school, I asked someone close to her, maybe she had experienced severe depression and the conflict she had been under pressure for a long time and it was an explosion," he explained.

He stated that the Establishment of the Task Force as stated in Presidential Decree (Keppres) Number 21 of 2024 concerning the Online Gambling Eradication Task Force which was published in Jakarta on June 14, 2024, would focus on preventing online gambling and taking action against the perpetrators first.

"The important thing is actually prevention and prosecution. When it comes to victims, I think we will see later, whether or not there are serious victims," said Muhadjir.