Big Brother, once again<\/p>\n
It takes a good ear and good counsel, as well as a degree of
\nintelligence and conscience, for a leader to weigh all sorts of
\nproposals, with coaxing and cajoling from all sides, and arrive
\nat the best possible decision.<\/p>\n
What kind of counsel President Susilo Bambang Yudhyono is now
\ngetting over proposed amendments to the Criminal Code from his
\nministers is not entirely clear. But a draft proposal exposed to
\nthe public not long ago indicates that the President may be in
\nurgent need of a spin doctor in order to avert a dramatic and
\nsudden slump in his public support.<\/p>\n
As the world commemorates Press Freedom Day each May 3, we are
\nreminded that no less than freedom of expression and thought are
\nat stake the minute President Susilo signs his approval to the
\ngovernment draft of the new Criminal Code. Barely seven years
\nafter strongman Soeharto was pushed out of power, we are again
\nwitnessing crude attempts by those in power to monopolize what is
\nconsidered politically and morally correct behavior and thought,
\non the pretext that it is for the good of over 200 million
\nIndonesians, and that it is based on the profound wisdom of an
\nelite circle of men and women.<\/p>\n
Among others, an article in the draft states that promoting
\n\"principles of communism\" will be subject to a maximum penalty of
\n10 years jail, unless you can prove you had no intention \"of
\nchanging or replacing the state ideology Pancasila.\"<\/p>\n
Then there's the clause on revealing in public any \"sensual\"
\nparts of the body -- with the judge apparently free to determine
\nwhether a bare back or a naked navel would fall into such as
\ncategory, before sentencing an offender to ten years behind bars
\nwith a Rp 300 million (almost US$ 32,000) fine. Judges would also
\ndetermine whether dangdut performers and millions of their
\necstatic fans will fill the jails, mixing with rapists, murderers
\nand white-collar criminals for the heinous crime of \"dancing
\nerotically\" in public.<\/p>\n
In contrast to his support for media freedom, which has been
\nexpressed on more than one occasion, President Susilo is now on
\nthe brink of becoming the enemy of the free media if he signs the
\ndraft that contains a clause that will punish \"any person found
\nto have disseminated uncertain, exaggerated or incomplete news
\nthat could cause social disorder.\" In total, 49 clauses have been
\nfound in the draft that threaten media freedom. Those who devised
\nsuch clauses may like to claim that it stemmed in part from
\nclumsy reporting on communal conflicts a few years ago; but such
\nissues are already covered in the Media Law, which media
\nadvocates are still seeking to improve.<\/p>\n
In the 20 years that we have been trying to revise the
\ncriminal law inherited from the Dutch, the honor of issuing such
\na controversial amendment together with the legislature may
\nironically fall on Indonesia's first ever directly elected
\npresident. The voters' act of placing their trust in Susilo will
\nhopefully lead him be much more questioning about the reason
\nbehind the revision to the Criminal Code. Human rights and civil
\nliberties protection was supposed to be one of the primary
\nreasons for this revision. Or so we thought. But it seems that
\nparts of our colonial legal heritage suits certain of today's
\npower brokers, as we still find in the draft a ban on \"mock(ing)
\nstate authorities and institutions that may result in social
\nchaos.\"<\/p>\n
Indeed there is now the highly important state recognition of
\ndomestic violence as a crime, with more comprehensive protection
\nof children from abuse in the proposed amendment. But failing to
\ndifferentiate crimes involving minors and \"crimes\" of offending
\nprim sensitivities, such as exhibiting a sculpture of a nude man
\nor woman as the draft implies, further shows a twisted, dim sense
\nof priorities among the President's advisors, including eminent
\nprofessors of law, who drew up this draft.<\/p>\n
A presidential approval of the draft would show our leader's
\nconfusion in accommodating concerns of \"moral decadence\" of vocal
\ngroups waving moralistic and religious flags, along with others
\nyearning for \"the good old days\" when the media was easier to
\ncontrol. A presidential approval would constitute a return to the
\nbad old days and to the inclinations of the old regime that
\nSusilo should be distancing himself from; the old regime that
\nassured us that Big Brother always knows best, even as we
\nsuffocated.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/big-brother-once-again-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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