LPSK: Langkat Regent Allegedly 'Benefited' Rp177.5 Billion From Slavery

The cage at the Langkat Regent's house is deactivated Published the Wind War Plan / PHOTO VIA ANTARA

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairperson of the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) Edwin Partogi Pasaribu estimates that the profit earned by the inactive Regent of Langkat Publishing the Wind War Plan (TRP) reaches Rp. 177.5 billion from the practice of modern slavery.

"Referring to the statement from the North Sumatra Police Chief, if there have been at least 600 victims in the last 10 years who were employed by the TRP in their business without getting paid, then the TRP will benefit by not paying their income of Rp. 177,552,000,000," said Edwin in a statement quoted by Antara, Thursday, 10 March.

Published fully exploits the acute situation of drug addicts to gain profits by not paying their wages as labor for the sake of his personal business interests.

Edwin also mentioned that there were many dark stories that the LPSK team got when conducting coordination, investigation, and study activities from January 27 to March 5, 2022.

The LPSK team found a common thread that there was no way home for those who were in the cages at Terbit's house. This was exacerbated by the fear of the victims towards Terbit, who was a regional head.

"If there is a TRP, let alone eating and drinking, the victims don't even dare to defecate," he said.

From these findings, the LPSK team strongly suspected that slavery had occurred in Terbit's cage case with the lure of rehabilitation for narcotics addicts.

"The pattern of total control really cut off the caged occupants from their families. There were even two parents of the victims who died and they were not allowed to pay their respects," he said.

Another consequence for victims of being in the cages is that there is almost no way back home, he added.

Even though when you enter there is a statement signed by the family and the person in charge of the cage, in practice it is only possible to leave the cage if you bribe the head of the prison, run away, or die, he explained.

Those who run away also have consequences for being searched and forcibly picked up by the hunting team. The hunting team consisted of Terbit's men, Dewa's men, who was Terbit's son, and local officials.

The hunting team also threatened the families of the victims who fled to replace the victim's position in the cage.