Threat of subversion is still very real, Sudomo says<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): An advisor to President Soeharto says that
\nthreats of subversion are very real so the anti-subversive law is
\nstill needed to protect the state.<\/p>\n
Chief of the Supreme Advisory Board Sudomo said, after meeting
\nwith Soeharto yesterday, that if the 1963 law is abolished, as
\nsome people have recently demanded, Indonesia would have no other
\nmeans to cope with the danger.<\/p>\n
\"The danger of subversion is there,\" he said. \"If the law is
\nabolished, what other laws do we have to prevent subversive
\nactivities?,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sudomo cited a number of incidents he branded as subversion
\nand which occurred when he was the chief of the Internal Security
\nAgency (Kopkamtib) from 1974 to 1983, including the anti-Soeharto
\nstudent demonstrations in 1978.<\/p>\n
Sudomo froze the student councils in universities and banned a
\nnumber of newspapers, including the dailies Kompas, Pelita,
\nMerdeka, Sinar Pagi, Sinar Harapan and The Indonesia Times.<\/p>\n
\"There were attempts to overthrow the legitimate government
\nand replace the state ideology,\" he said. \"The law exists because
\nthere's the danger of subversion.\"<\/p>\n
Sudomo named Malaysia and Singapore with their internal
\nsecurity acts as being among countries which have the power to
\nbypass legal procedures and detain people for the sake of
\npreventing subversion.<\/p>\n
The National Commission for Human Rights last week said the
\nanti-subversive law was outdated and should be abolished. The
\ncommission and other human rights activists said crime against
\nthe state is already dealt with by the criminal code.<\/p>\n
Sudomo said the criminal code has sanctions against subversive
\nactivities, but does not prevent them from occurring. \"Now, if I
\nwanted to prevent people from staging demonstrations, I would be
\ncensured. Kopkamtib used to be able to prevent such things.\"<\/p>\n
The human rights' commission late last year called for a
\nreview on laws which were no longer relevant, and those which it
\nalleged trample on people's basic rights. The No. 11, 1963 law on
\nsubversion was among such laws, it said.<\/p>\n
Attorney General Singgih has voiced a similar opinion.<\/p>\n
\"If we have to wait until there is evidence of subversive
\nactivities (as required by the Criminal Code), then we'll have to
\nwait until we see this country destroyed,\" Singgih said.<\/p>\n
Proponents for the revocation continued their campaign.<\/p>\n
J.E. Sahetapy, a professor of law at Airlangga University in
\nSurabaya, told The Jakarta Post that the revocation is \"a must\"
\nfor the sake of justice and democratization.<\/p>\n
\"This particular law has bolstered Indonesia's image as a
\nstate of control, and encouraged a process of 'legal decay'
\nwithin the administration,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"The power holders have been using the law to gag their
\npolitical adversaries,\" he said. \"This New Order administration
\nshouldn't be using a law established during the Old Order
\nadministration under the late president Sukarno.\"<\/p>\n
He also criticized the government for failing to heed the
\nclamor for the abolition of the law. \"The government seems to be
\njust listening, nodding, but not taking any action,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sahetapy suggested that the law be \"frozen\" before finally
\nbeing revoked.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara, the chairman of the
\nInstitute for Policy Research and Advocacy, criticized the
\nexpansive definition of \"subversive\" because it sometimes
\nincludes those who merely have different points of view of the
\nstate ideology, Pancasila.<\/p>\n
\"In a democratic country, a person has the right to express
\nideas which are different from those of the government. This
\naction cannot be considered a crime,\" he said.<\/p>\n
That person, he said, should not be charged before the court.
\n(swe\/15\/imn)<\/p>",
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