The law as helmsman<\/p>\n
Under the New Order the law has still not been able to place
\nitself in a helmsman's position in this country. This is one of
\nthe interesting premises made by Yusril Ihza Mahendra in a speech
\nduring his confirmation as professor of law in the University of
\nIndonesia's School of Law last week. \"The law as the helmsman\" is
\nan expression designed to enunciate a major difference with the
\npast Old Order regime, which used \"politics as the helmsman\" as
\nits motto.<\/p>\n
Yusril Ihza Mahendra's observation gives all of us cause for
\napprehension. Many cases involving the enforcement of the law
\nmakes it indeed impossible for us to claim that we have abandoned
\nthe maxim of politics as the helmsman. The much-publicized
\nabduction and disappearance of political and student activists --
\neven though we are still in the dark as to who the perpetrators
\nare -- serve as disturbing examples all of us to see. Also, the
\nimprisonment without due legal process, a few years ago, of a
\nnumber of vocal critics still lingers fresh in our minds. The
\narbitrary meting out of death sentences against criminals by what
\nwas popularly known at the time as \"mysterious gunmen\" is another
\nblemish on our country's legal practices.<\/p>\n
Tragically, all those legal deviations are supposed to be New
\nOrder corrections of Old Order practices. As we may remember, a
\nnumber of political dissenters -- such as Sjahrir, Prawoto and
\nothers -- whose views differed from those of the Sukarno regime
\nwere at the time imprisoned without trial. Journalists Mochtar
\nLubis of the newspaper Indonesia Raya and Tasrif of the newspaper
\nAbadi suffered the same fate.<\/p>\n
All of them were freed after the fall of the Old Order. Their
\nrelease was motivated by the New Order's trauma with the legal
\ndeviations committed by the previous regime. People were
\ntraumatized by all the deviations from the Constitution,
\nespecially those that affected the position of citizens with
\nregard to the law.<\/p>\n
All our judicial authorities and all our government officials
\nneed, in this context, to bring about the necessary corrections
\nin order to establish a climate of equanimity in our society and
\nto uphold the law on a basis of honesty, truth and justice.<\/p>\n
-- Republika, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-law-as-helmsman-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }