Indonesian police address anti-maskers’ coffin punishment 

JAKARTA: The Indonesian national police chief of analysis and operational standard evaluation, senior commissioner Muhammad Firman, called for the human dignity aspect to be considered in the punishments enacted against Covid-19 health protocols violators and anti-maskers.

“What we might suggest is to consider the human dignity aspect of the sanctions, and that [human dignity] should not be violated,” said Muhammad Firman in a discussion aired in the national disaster mitigation agency (BNPB) Youtube account.

Firman argued many variations of social sanctions have emerged that do not respect basic human dignity. One of which is the punishment where people caught not wearing a face mask is placed inside a coffin in West Jakarta, which is meant to create a deterrent effect.

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During the online discussion, he mentioned socially acceptable punishments such as the push-up punishment implemented by the East Java police department. 

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However, he called for regional and central governments to establish a firm law that would help discipline people to abide by Covid-19 health protocols.