Abolition and human rights
Abolition and human rights
From Media Indonesia
Recently, there have been many arguments for and against the President's plan to drop all corruption charges against former president Soeharto.
Of course, people have their own opinions. A lawyer with all his perseverance would try to prove that his client did not commit the crime he stands accused of. So, a case is settled after the judge makes a ruling.
I try to put myself in Soeharto's position. The possibility of him being granted abolition must make him feel that his human rights are being violated. Why is it so?
First, Pak Harto knows that all people are equal before the law so he would demand similar treatment. Second, he knows the principle of the presumption of innocence prevails and that it should be a court that decides whether he is guilty or not.
As criminal charges have been laid against Pak Harto, he would surely demand that he be tried. After all, he has the right to prove that he is innocent and that would be disclosed if he was tried openly. It would be hard for Pak Harto to shoulder the charges to the end of his life if he has not been given a chance to clarify the matter before the court.
The Indonesian Encyclopedia says abolition is not granted in the case of criminal acts and their consequences. According to Article 14 of the 1945 Constitution, it is the prerogative of the president to grant abolition. Issues on abolition itself are covered in Article 366 of the Criminal Code. I think the word "abolition" is derived from the English word "to abolish" meaning to erase or remove. So, if abolition is granted to Pak Harto, it means that he has to accept the charges leveled against him. That would surely be really hard for him to do.
If we uphold his human rights and do not want to give him more burdens to shoulder for the rest of his life, he should be prosecuted in an effort to make his cases clear and to relieve his moral responsibility. This is just the point of view of a layman intending to ease the burden of former president Soeharto, who is also a citizen with no small contribution to the country. Therefore, we should respect his human rights and there should be no abolition granted to him.
SOEGIH ARTO
Jakarta