Calls grow in Indonesia for tougher action against civic group ‘thugs’ who extort firms, disrupt business

Government

While most of the approximately 550,000 civic organisations in the country are benign, a few have gained notoriety for their members’ involvement in assault, extortion and other forms of violence. JAKARTA: Employees of a rubber factory got a shock in late April when half a dozen men allegedly stormed their workplace in Indonesia’s Central Kalimantan province, ordered them to stop what they were doing and claimed control over the facility, according to police reports. Inside the factory, the men