Political rallies still need permits<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government has decided to maintain the
\npolicies requiring people to obtain police permits for political
\ngatherings.<\/p>\n
Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman said yesterday that permits
\nare no longer required for non-political gatherings such as
\ncultural, social and religious events.<\/p>\n
Political gatherings, however, are different, he said.<\/p>\n
\"Political gatherings are not included in the list of permit-
\nfree gatherings,\" he told reporters after attending a plenary
\nmeeting of the House of Representatives. The plenary session
\nratified the government-sponsored draft law on Correctional
\nInstitutions.<\/p>\n
Oetojo explained that people should refer to the existing
\nregulations on gatherings. Political gatherings are covered in
\nthe 1963, Number 5 presidential decree.<\/p>\n
The government announced in August that it was waiving permit
\nrequirements for non-political gatherings such as cultural,
\nreligious and social events.<\/p>\n
At the time, the government said requirements would also be
\nrelaxed for scientific seminars on campuses. People who planned
\nto hold such gatherings would no longer be required to request
\npermits; instead they only needed to notify the police about an
\nintended event.<\/p>\n
The announcement was made following the establishment in June
\nof an interdepartmental team, chaired by Oetojo, to review the
\nregulations requiring people to obtain permission for every
\ngathering, including cultural performances.<\/p>\n
The team prepared a draft on the guidelines for holding public
\ngatherings, which Oetojo said will be translated into a
\ngovernment decree to be effective as of Jan. 1, 1996.<\/p>\n
Even with the August announcement, in the absence of clear
\nguidelines, a number of meetings and cultural performances have
\ncontinued to become victims of government bans. Authorities
\nusually cited security reasons for breaking up gatherings.<\/p>\n
No less than 26 events were broken-up in the first half of
\nthis year, including several cultural performances.<\/p>\n
Political figures and government critics such as Indonesian
\nDemocratic Party chairperson Megawati Soekarnoputri and head of
\nthe Nahdlatul Ulama Moslem organization Abdurrahman Wahid were
\namong the victims of the policy.<\/p>\n
The permit requirements have come under a great deal of
\ncriticism, with charges that they deviate from Article 28 of the
\n1945 Constitution guaranteeing people's right to assemble.(imn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/political-rallies-still-need-permits-1447893297",
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