'I Know My Limit' — Bandung Mayor Ridwan Denies Beating Up Driver
Jakarta. Bandung Mayor Ridwan Kamil demonstrated to reporters on Monday (21/03) what he claimed he did to a driver who has accused him of physical assault: pulling him out of a car, but not beating the man up.
Police in West Java received a criminal complaint against the mayor, filed on Friday (18/03) by a man named Taufik Hidayat.
Taufik said the mayor slapped him three times and hit him twice in the stomach when Ridwan spotted him using a private vehicle as an illegal public minivan, picking up passengers in front of the city's main square, or alun-alun.
“I must stress that there was no slapping or hitting. What happened was Taufik refused to get out of his car, so I pulled him out,” Ridwan said as quoted by Tempo.
Ridwan then asked a city official to come forward and play the role of Taufik as the mayor acted out how he confronted the driver.
The mayor later put his right hand around the official's neck, fingers gripping his chin, telling reporters that Taufik kept avoiding eye contact so he forced him to look straight into his eyes as he scolded the driver.
“I told [Taufik]: 'Look at me when I'm talking to you,' ” he quoted himself as saying during the incident. “I have warned you many times that what you're doing is illegal. Why are you being stubborn?”
Ridwan told reporters that he poked the driver in the chest and stomach several times, but nothing more.
“As a mayor I know my limit,” he said, adding that the square was crowded during the incident thus he wouldn't dare resorting to the type of violence Taufik claimed he did.
Police said they would question Taufik and the mayor but added that no one has been charged in the case.
If found guilty, the mayor could face a maximum sentence of 32 months in prison or a fine of up to Rp 4.5 million ($343.57).
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