Indonesians criticize guilty verdict for teenage sandal thief (correction)

Jan 5, 2012, 13:13 GMT

Jakarta - Indonesian activists on Thursday expressed disappointment after a 15-year-old boy was found guilty of stealing sandals from police officers, but escaped a prison sentence.

A court in Central Sulawesi province on Wednesday ruled that the boy had committed the theft, but released him into the custody of his parents.

In a campaign to embarrass the police, Indonesians dumped worn-out sandals and slippers outside several police stations.

The boy was allegedly beaten by police officers who interrogated him in May.

'We appreciate the court's swift decision on the case but we are disappointed with the guilty verdict,' said Budhi Kurniawan, a spokesman for SOS Children's Villages, a child protection group that organized that sandal collection campaign.

Kurniawan said one of the police officers whose sandals were allegedly stolen by the boy could not identify the footwear when it was shown to him in court.

'I think the court tried to come up with a win-win solution and avoided embarrassing the police,' he said.

Activists on Thursday delivered 1,300 pairs of shoes collected from the public to the national police headquarters, attorney general's office, Justice Ministry and the Judicial Commission's offices.

'The police accepted the sandals and said they would donate them to the needy,' said Kurniawan. 'We told them that it was not simply a gift, but an expression of our discontent.'

The police is seen as one of the most corrupt institutions in Indonesia, which is regularly rated as one of the world's most graft-prone countries.

Police have defended their actions, saying the boy's parents wanted the case to be brought to court. They said officers found to have manhandled the boy would be punished.

The country's justice system has been criticized for failing to protect children, and a new juvenile justice bill is currently being debated in the House of Representatives.

Under the juvenile justice system, children as young as 8 years can face trial, and those as young as 12 years can be sentenced to prison terms.

About 5,000 minors are currently in jails across the country, but a shortage of juvenile lock-ups means some are in adult prisons, officials and activists said.