Experts call for restraint on subversion law

SEMARANG (JP): Well-known legal experts Satjipto Rahardjo and Muladi are worried about the government's threat to use the subversion law against alleged inciters of the July 27 riot in Jakarta.

In separate interviews with The Jakarta Post yesterday, they said that the law should be scrapped because it is outdated and allows violations of human rights.

They stressed that as the law stands it should be used selectively for political crimes such as undermining the state ideology Pancasila.

"As long as a crime can be handled with the criminal code, the use of the subversion law should be avoided," Muladi said.

Both Muladi and Satjipto are senior teachers at Semarang's Diponegoro University and members of the Jakarta-based National Commission on Human Rights.

Muladi said the commission's recent call for the abolition of the subversion law received an enthusiastic response from the public but got a cold reaction from the government.

The July 27 riot, which claimed at least three lives and material losses of about Rp 200 billion (US$85 million), has been blamed on the little-known leftist Democratic People's Party (PRD).

Ten key activists of the group, including its chairman Budiman Sudjatmiko, were arrested in Bekasi, east of Jakarta, in a midnight raid on Sunday on their hiding place.

Spokesman for the Armed Forces Amir Syarifudin said that from the documents seized from the activists, there was a "clear indication" that PRD has a lot in common with the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party.

Muladi said the July 27 riot has reasserted the need for the government to maintain the law, which was last used six years ago against a man falsifying tote coupons.

The authorities have to study PRD's declaration before they level subversion charges against the "party's" activists, he said.

Satjipto said that even though the law has not been scrapped, as its critics have persistently demanded, law enforcers should apply it very cautiously.

He pointed out that people's main objection to the law is the "elasticity" of its articles that allows the authorities to use them for any crimes.

"The law should be used only for major political crimes," he said. He pointed out that the law was made decades ago when the situation was "completely different" from now.

"From the human rights point of view, the law is very defective and therefore the National commission on Human Rights has proposed it be scrapped," he said.

He said that he does not question the substance of the subversion law. It is the way the articles are formulated, he said.

At a separate occasion, Attorney General Singgih acceded that Indonesian law enforcement has been under public scrutiny.

He said in the Irian Jaya capital of Jayapura that the "behavior" of some law enforcers has tarnished the image of Indonesian law enforcement, Antara reported.

"As law enforcers, they should have set good examples instead of trampling on the law," he said when installing the new Irian Jaya high court justice Soleman Andi Lolo. His statement was read out by Ismu Djoko, his deputy on general criminal affairs.

Singgih also admitted that legal development lags behind the development of other sectors. (har/pan)