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Read Full BioAn Indonesian soldier has been sentenced to death after fatally shooting three policemen in a raid on an illegal cockfighting and gambling ring in the country.
Jakarta Globe reported that in addition to the death sentence, the soldier has also been dismissed from the Indonesian Army.
While handing down the sentence, Judge Colonel Fredy Ferdian Isnartanto said, “The court sentences the defendant to the death penalty as the main punishment and dishonorable discharge from military service as an additional punishment.”
Corporal Second Class Bazarsah was found guilty of killing Adjunct Commissioner Lusiyanto, First Brigadier Ghalib, and 2nd Sub-Inspector Petrus Apriyanto. The three police officers had been part of a raid on an illegal cockfighting operation in Way Kanan, Lampung, on March 17 this year.
The owner of the illegal cockfighting venue, Warrant Officer Yun Herry Lubism, was also a serving officer in the army. He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison and dishonorably discharged from the military earlier in the day.
Indonesia Clamping Down On Illegal Gambling
The raid on the cockfighting venue in March is part of a wider clampdown on illegal gambling in Indonesia. Last month, Indonesian prosecutors called for hefty jail terms for individuals protecting illegal online casinos operating in the country.
Prosecutors believe several ministry officials helped orchestrate the protection scheme, which allegedly saw gambling firms hand over vast sums of money to continue operating amid police crackdowns.
Indonesia’s Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Center (PPATK) has also been leading a government crackdown on online gambling. The organization has frozen over 5,000 bank accounts, seizing $36.2 million of gambling-linked funds.
The government also reports that it has removed or blocked access to 900,000 gambling-related pages and posts since President Prabowo Subianto took office in October 2024.
Cockfighting Continues In the US Despite Strict Bans
Cockfighting continues to be active in the US, as well as in many countries in Asia. In June this year, 75 men were arrested in a raid on a cockfighting venue in Alabama. Like in the raid in Indonesia, police also found multiple illegal firearms at the venue, as well as chickens armed with blades that “would ultimately kill each other in the name of sport.”
US gambling laws strictly prohibit cockfighting, and it is classed as a felony in 42 states. As well as Alabama, there have been recent reports of cockfighting rings being exposed in New York, California, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Georgia.
“Operation Angry Birds” in New York saw the biggest raid in the state with over 3,000 birds seized and 9 men charged with felonies. An even bigger bust occurred in LA in 2017 when over 7,000 birds were seized. Federal penalties can include up to 3 years in prison for transporting or attending animal fighting events.
Two men were also arrested in a raid on a cockfighting ring in the UK in June this year. The sport has been illegal in the UK for over 200 years, but the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) reported it has risen recently. In 2017, the animal welfare group noted that cockfighting was “at a five-year high in the UK and growing, particularly in British-born Pakistani communities.”
