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'Martyr' Slashes Self in Front of KPK in Protest
Ulma Haryanto | September 15, 2011

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jsbst18
7:51am Sep 16, 2011

I agree this guy is very cool. He actually gives a damn. I hope the security guard is fired.


jsbst18
7:41am Sep 16, 2011

I agree this guy is very cool. He actually gives a damn. I hope the security guard is fired.


Arok
6:47pm Sep 15, 2011

I like this guy's moxy. We need more passion like this, there's too much APATHY in Indonesia, the power is in the people's hands but it's like no one gives a hoot.


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A protest in front of the Corruption Eradication Commission building in South Jakarta turned bloody on Thursday when a self-described martyr in the fight against graft slashed himself across the forehead with a boxcutter in front of a crowd of horrified onlookers.

The man, who identified himself as Arifin Mardiyanto, 55, had apparently traveled from Yogyakarta by himself to file a complaint over a land dispute there.

“I saw him come out from the building and he had some documents with him, so I approached him and asked what was he doing inside,” Syarif Salampessy, a reporter with state-owned RRI radio station, told the Jakarta Globe.

Syarif said that Arifin was shaking as he told him that he wanted to start a revolution.

“He took out from his pockets two padlocks and a chain and started to tie his right arm and leg on the handrails. And then he took out the cutter knife,” Syarif continued.

To the dismay of the now-gathering reporters and bystanders, Arifin then stood and slowly slashed his forehead with the blade while shouting: “We need revolution! We have to fight corruption!

“The civil society are a bunch of sissies,” he continued as blood began to flow from his wound onto his white dress shirt. “I am ready to be a martyr, this is red and white!”

Arifin continued to shout for revolution as security guards attempted to subdue him. The guards managed to find the keys to the padlocks in Arifin’s breast pocket, and released his bonds.

“People have to support the KPK! NGOs shouldn’t just hold discussions but also act!” Arifin continued.

He was then escorted back inside the KPK offices for first aid, and emerged a few minutes later bandaged across the forehead and in full possession of his freedom.

When asked how Arifin had managed to secret a weapon through the KPK’s security checkpoint, a guard said that he had apparently hid the boxcutter and chains beneath some clothing in his bag.

“When he went inside I opened his bag, he told me that they were just clothes. I took a quick glance, closed the bag and gave it back to him,” the guard said under condition of anonymity.

Apparently this was not the first time Arifin has chained himself up as a form of protest. He previously showed his disgust for the Bibit Samad Rianto/Chandra H. Hamza scandal by locking himself up outside the KPK.

He also chained himself to a pillar at the House of Representatives in support of former National Police chief-turned corruption whistle-blower Susno Duadji.