Coordinating Minister Urges Public Not to Take Law into Their Own Hands

Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections (Menko Kumham Imipas) of the Republic of Indonesia, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, has stressed that the public must not take the law into their own hands, as it violates prevailing regulations and human rights (HAM). “The public must not engage in vigilante justice against people suspected of committing theft, robbery, mugging and other crimes,” said Yusril Ihza Mahendra whilst attending the XXXVII Graduation Ceremony of Bangka Belitung University (UBB) in Balun Ijuk, Bangka Regency, on Tuesday. He said that recently, problems and anxiety have arisen in the wider community regarding cases of mugging, robbery, theft and other crimes. However, the issue is not the crimes themselves, but that those suspected or accused of committing these criminal acts are captured by mobs, beaten, tortured, and even killed. “This creates new problems because such vigilante actions are not in accordance with the applicable rules. Therefore, I invite the public to jointly respect human rights and obey the prevailing regulations,” he said. “It is very tragic that the life of a chicken is equated with a human life, and cases like this occur frequently in other regions,” he stated. He urged all his staff, the police and local governments to provide education to the public so they do not take the law into their own hands against people suspected of committing theft, robbery and other crimes. “The public should not take the law into their own hands, but rather uphold the law by handing over perpetrators to the police to undergo the applicable legal process,” he said.