Indonesian police officer claims he was fired for being gay, files lawsuit for wrongful dismissal
- A spokesman for the country’s National Police Headquarters said homosexuality breached legal and religious norms
- The incident has been condemned by LGBT advocates and human rights activists
Maruf Bajammal said his client, known by the initials TT, was let go from the Central Java Regional Police (CJRP) in December 2017. The CJRP claimed TT had left without permission and committed sexual harassment, Maruf said, but he and his client’s access to its report on the investigation was denied by the force.
When asked about the case, Dedi Prasetyo, a spokesman from the National Police Headquarters, did not comment on the grounds for TT’s dismissal. But he said that by virtue of his sexual orientation, TT was in breach of two regulations cited in the laws governing police officers.
“In Article 19, Paragraph 1, it mentions that the acts of police officers must always be based on legal norms and heed religious norms,” said Dedi, adding that officers also have to adhere to social norms of “politeness” and “morality”.