Expert calls for cautious use of subversion law

JAKARTA (JP): A prominent legal expert called Saturday for caution in using the highly controversial subversion law against those suspected of being behind the July 27 riot in the capital.

Yusril Ihza Mahendra of the University of Indonesia said the government should first find out if the rioting was politically motivated before it formally charges the suspects with subversion.

"If it was not politically motivated, they should be slapped with criminal charges instead," he told reporters after a discussion on his newly-published book Dinamika Tata Negara Indonesia, or the Dynamics of Indonesian Constitutional Law.

The authorities in Jakarta have threatened to take more than 120 people to court on suspicion of involvement in the July 27 rioting in which at least three people died.

The riots, believed to be the most serious in the past 20 years, saw banks and government buildings set on fire, shops looted and public facilities vandalized.

According to Jakarta governor Surjadi Soedirdja, the riots caused material losses of Rp 200 billion (more than US$85 million) and are believed to have hurt Indonesia's credibility as a good place for doing business.

Among those to be charged with subversion is labor leader Muchtar Pakpahan, chief of the unrecognized Prosperous Labor Union.

The authorities also plan to slap the same charges on Budiman Sudjatmiko, chief of the tiny leftist Democratic People's Party (PRD) blamed for inciting the riot.

Budiman, still in hiding, has been accused of insulting President Soeharto in the "free speech forum" at the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters.

Under Indonesian law, subversion is the most serious offense, punishable by death. The subversion law was passed in 1963 to deal with threats to the nation's unity from both Indonesia and abroad.

Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman has said that the law is still needed. He said the recent riots strengthened the need to maintain it.

Critics say that the law encourages violation of human rights, charging that its articles are "elastic as rubber", allowing the government to interpret them to suit its purposes.

"With this law, the government can arrest anybody they want," Yusril said. "Anybody found stealing a hen near a police station can be charged with subversion."

Yusril said that the "elasticity" of the subversion law tarnishes the image of the Indonesian legal system because it supports the already excessive power of the government.

"Its elasticity was created specifically for the political situation during the 1960s," he said.

Yusril said the subversion law was drafted when Indonesia was still in the throes of confrontation with Malaysia in the early 1960s.

Yusril said the government should not charge Budiman with subversion until it hears evidence from witnesses and experts that support the allegation.

Yusril said that after studying PRD documents, he came to the conclusion that the government's insistence that the party is identical to the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) is not justified.

"They are 'radical leftist', but they're not directly affiliated to the (remnants of) the banned Indonesian Communist Party but obviously inspired by Tan Malaka's thought," Yusril said.

Tan Malaka was a controversial politician around the time of the independence war. In the 1920s he was a communist but later rejected the communist party's plan in 1925 to launch a revolution and armed rebellion.

Yusril praised the police for refraining from charging Budiman with being a communist, and instead suspecting that he was responsible for criminal activity. (16)