Legal experts demand new subversion law<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Legal experts made a fresh call on the
\ngovernment yesterday to replace the outdated 1946 Criminal Code
\nwith a more sophisticated bill drafted three years ago.<\/p>\n
Muladi, the rector of the Semarang-based Diponegoro
\nUniversity, Loebby Loqman and Yusril Ihza Mahendra of the
\nJakarta-based University of Indonesia, separately pointed out
\nthat because the Criminal Code does not have provisions on
\nsubversion, the government has had to use the 1963 Subversion Law
\nwidely condemned as inhumane.<\/p>\n
If the Criminal Code is replaced, they agreed, the government
\nwill never again have to use the Subversion Law as the new
\ndocument would have adequate provisions.<\/p>\n
\"If the new bill is passed into law, the 1963 Subversion Law
\nwould automatically be obsolete,\" said one of the observers.<\/p>\n
\"The draft was completed three years ago, I don't understand
\nwhy the government hasn't submitted it to the House of
\nRepresentatives,\" Yusril said. \"All the fuss about the Subversion
\nLaw would be over if the Criminal Code was amended.\"<\/p>\n
\"The best thing to do is scrap the Subversion Law and submit
\nthe draft of the new criminal code to the House,\" said Loebby
\nLoeqman.<\/p>\n
Muladi, who helped draw up the new document, agreed. However,
\nhe recognized that there is only a slight possibility that the
\nHouse would be able to deliberate the document right away. After
\nthe general elections in May, the House will see a change in
\nmembership.<\/p>\n
\"But that's no excuse for the government to stall,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The experts were commenting on a recent statement by
\nSecretary-General of the National Commission on Human Rights
\nBaharuddin Lopa, lamenting the government's failure to respond to
\nthe commission's request last year that the 1963 law be revoked.<\/p>\n
Law No.11\/1963 prohibits activities that could be labeled as
\n\"subversive\" such as attempts to topple the government,
\nundermine the Pancasila ideology, express sympathy with the
\ncountry's foes, even damage a public facility.<\/p>\n
Legal experts have criticized the law as inhumane, easy to
\nmanipulate and for giving the government the sole authority to
\ndefine what constitutes a subversive act.<\/p>\n
The government resorts to using the law because the 1946
\nCriminal Code has no provision for subversion.<\/p>\n
Muladi tried to appease those who believe that without the law
\nthe state would be vulnerable to subversion.<\/p>\n
\"The new document has provisions to restrict such activities.
\nOnly, it's a lot more sophisticated than the old criminal code
\nbecause we tried to link every act defined as subversive to its
\ncauses,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In addition, the bill uses standard law terms, something the
\nold one lacks. The bill is not only based on existing national
\nlaws and traditional laws but also on international conventions,
\nMuladi said.<\/p>\n
After 12 years of toil, a panel of experts at the Agency for
\nthe Development of National Laws completed the criminal code
\ndraft in 1993.<\/p>\n
The document contains more than 600 articles, including those
\non subversion against the state. There has yet to be an official
\nexplanation as to why the document has not been submitted to the
\nHouse of Representatives.<\/p>\n
Loebby is pessimistic that the government would soon scrap the
\n1963 law. \"It has become the government's lethal weapon,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The law was used in late 1960s against the now-banned
\nIndonesian Communist Party for its staging of a bloody coup
\nattempt. It was also used to deal with anti-New Order
\nadministration demonstrations during the late 1970s.<\/p>\n
The law is currently being used to nail the activists of the
\nDemocratic People's Party (PRD) and labor leader Muchtar
\nPakpahan. (35)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/legal-experts-demand-new-subversion-law-1447893297",
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