Equality for rich and poor?<\/p>\n
Winahyo Soekanto, Lawyer, Consumer Care Foundation (YPK), Jakarta<\/p>\n
Come to Hall B of the Jakarta Fair Ground in Kemayoran,
\nCentral Jakarta these days and witness how Akbar Tandjung, a
\nsuspect in the multi-billion-fraud case, and Tommy Mandala Putra,
\na suspect in the murder of justice Syafiuddin Kartasasmita,
\ndefend their cases. Broadcast live by television cameras, the
\ntrials are fast becoming a favorite show to many, helping
\nincreased ratings and maybe more advertisements for the
\ntelevision stations.<\/p>\n
In the air-conditioned facilities, judges, prosecutors, and
\nlegal counsels no longer have to sweat and feel the heat in their
\nrobes and suits, while the presence of a large number of police
\npersonnel helps ensure that the defendants are safe and that the
\ntrials proceed smoothly.<\/p>\n
The same comfort may also help the defendants prepare their
\nbest defenses -- the upholding of human dignity as mandated by
\nthe Law No. 14\/1970 on the judiciary. The judges' recent decision
\nto release Akbar from detention may also prove to be favorable to
\nhis defense.<\/p>\n
The question is whether such comfort and the legal facilities
\nafforded to those big shots are also available for everybody
\nelse. Yet for some, street justice is the best that they can get.<\/p>\n
In Bogor, West Java, a mob of hundreds of people recently beat
\nup and killed Herman bin Santa who was suspected of stealing a
\nmotorbike. Herman was under police escort when the mob attacked
\nhim. In Pekayon, Bekasi, West Java, hundreds of angry people
\ndragged Musa, a suspected thief out of his house, stripped him
\nnaked and tied him to a motorcycle. Someone then rode the
\nmotorbike, dragging the suspected thief behind the vehicle and
\nkilling him.<\/p>\n
This glaring contrast cannot be anything else than the result
\nof the government's failure to ensure equal protection under the
\nlaws as mandated by the 1945 Constitution and the 1979 law on the
\njudiciary which stipulates that Indonesia is a democracy that
\nupholds the law and that guarantees equality before the law and
\nthat guarantees the government's stance against discrimination.<\/p>\n
But we are forced to witness how legal processes here often
\nneglect the principle of equality before the law. This is
\nespecially true in cases that involve big businesses, for
\ninstance, the conglomerates that have harmed the state's
\nfinancial interests through their violation of the government's
\nregulation in the use of hundreds of trillions of bank liquidity
\nassistance (BLBI).<\/p>\n
The suspects in those cases are now either still free because
\nthey somehow defeated the legal system, or got away with the
\nminimum sanction. Take David Nusa Widjaja, for instance, who was
\nrecently sentenced to a year of imprisonment for embezzling Rp
\n1.29 trillion (about US$ 134 million) of the BLBI fund.<\/p>\n
Yet the government has failed to protect the rights of
\nsuspected thieves who were lynched to death. This has been taking
\nplace for so long despite Indonesia having the mandate of the
\nCriminal Code that stipulates the rights of anyone facing legal
\nsituations to a state-sponsored legal counsel, to an independent
\nand honest and speedy trial.<\/p>\n
These cases form the basis of the public experience of the
\nlaws, leading people to ask the age-old questions: What and who
\nare the laws for? Why does the law have two faces? A friendly one
\ntoward the powerful and the rich with resources at their disposal
\nto hire expensive lawyers and procure comfort even in the
\ndetention cells; and a vicious, frowning one toward the direction
\nof the poor and the downtrodden.<\/p>\n
When the rich and the powerful commit a crime they do so out
\nof greed -- no one can dispute that -- while the small fry
\ncriminals break the law because life has dealt them a tough blow.
\nThat is not rhetoric, but the findings of a survey last February
\nconducted by the Partnership for Good Governance on Corruption in
\nIndonesia. The majority of respondents believe the Indonesian
\njudiciary is part of a legal system that favors the rich and the
\npowerful.<\/p>\n
Almost two-thirds of Indonesian households who answered a
\nnationwide survey reported falling victim to corruption by public
\nofficials, according to the report. Traffic police are considered
\nthe most corrupt body, followed by the customs department and the
\njudiciary, while mosques, churches and temples were seen as the
\nleast corrupt institutions, followed by the post office, the news
\nmedia, non-government organizations and labor unions.<\/p>\n
When the \"little people\" resort to violence and violations of
\nthe law in expressing their frustration, they incur even greater
\ncosts. Some get killed while the rich and the powerful retain
\ntheir positions even as they face legal charges -- that's what
\nhas happened to Central Bank Governor Syahril Sabirin and House
\nSpeaker Akbar Tandjung.<\/p>\n
The corrupt power holders and business people adhere to an
\nentirely different rule of the game that enable them to \"gain at
\nno pain\" while the poor and the downtrodden often have to endure
\nso much pain and no gain.<\/p>\n
Another study, conducted by the Indonesian Society for
\nTransparency (MTI) in 1999-2000, found that out of 395
\npresidential decrees issued since 1971, 79 of them smacked of
\ncorruption and nepotism.<\/p>\n
The law has been pummeled by the law enforcers themselves, the
\npolitical power holders and corrupt business people that it has
\ndegenerated into a mere political tool for the power holders
\nseeking to further their own interests at the expenses of
\nordinary people. Legal processes now abuse the public trust, and
\nbecome not much more than a tool of the centralization of powers.<\/p>\n
In addition, the law has become a means for the corrupt and
\ncolluding business people to justify their acts, including those
\nthat will kill competition, and to gain privileges in businesses.<\/p>\n
Harold J. Berman of the Harvard Law School defined the law as
\nan expression of the human rationale and morality, and that it
\ncannot be considered a law that does not support the ideals for
\nwhich it is established.<\/p>\n
It is thus high time that Indonesia ends the expressions of
\nthe law that insult our common sense and the morality of the
\npublic.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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