http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/jakarta-flag-raising-team-embroiled-in-sexual-harassment-scandal/391610 Jakarta Flag-Raising Team Embroiled in Sexual Harassment Scandal Jakarta Globe | August 18, 2010 A member of the national flag-raising team (Paskibraka) is flanked by an honour guard during Independence Day celebrations at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday. The Jakarta branch of Paskibraka is under investigation amid allegations three young girls were forced to strip and run naked in front of their female instructors. (EPA Jakarta. Authorities have launched a sexual harassment investigation after allegations that candidates for the Jakarta flag-raising team to take part in Indonesia's Independence Day celebrations were repeatedly forced to strip and run naked in front of their female seniors. Firmansyah, head of Jakarta's Office of Youth and Sports, said one of the girl's parents had lodged a sexual harassment complaint with the office after three high school-age girls were allegedly abused by their senior instructors at Jakarta's flag-raising team (Paskibraka) orientation camp in Cibubur from July 2 to July 6. "The girls were ordered to run naked from the bathroom to the bedroom repeatedly," Firmansyah told Kompas.com. "If the allegations are proven to be true, we want to stress that [running naked] is not part of our procedure," Firmansyah said, adding that the girls and boys slept in separate barracks. "Possibly, the senior instructors [at the girls' barrack] were trying to improvise and came up with the order to run naked. But we are still waiting for the results from the Indonesia Paskibraka alumni or PPI's internal investigation," he said. PPI has been Paskibraka's alumni organization since 1967. They are appointed by Jakarta's office of Youth and Sports as the organizer for the Paskibraka orientation in Cibubur. During the 2010 orientation, the instructors were members of the Paskibraka team from 2006 to 2009. It is unknown if any of the allegedly abused candidates made it on to the national flag-raising team. Mochamad Mahdi, the head of PPI's internal investigation team, said they began the investigation last week after a request from the Jakarta municipal government. "We have contacted and interviewed the people who are related to the incident," Mahdi said
