Experts demand criminal code procedure changes

Experts demand criminal code procedure changes

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's current criminal code procedures,
last updated in 1981, are in need of reform because they are
widely open to abuse, a group of legislators and law experts said
yesterday.

Leading human right campaigner Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara
found receptive ears during a hearing with Commission III of the
House of Representatives in his campaign to have the code of
procedures reformed.

The legislators concluded that the code should be changed and
should include sanctions against those guilty of procedural
violations.

They also underlined the need for the new court procedures to
adopt regulations stipulated in various UN declarations,
including those against injustices, on victims' protection,
against power abuse and on law enforcement code of ethics. They
said Indonesia should also ratify a UN convention against torture
by public authorities.

Abdul Hakim, the chairman of the Institute for Policy Research
and Advocacy, during the hearing gave ample examples of cases
when the criminal code procedures were violated by the police and
district attorneys during the various cases he and his agency has
handled.

In essence, he said the code does not stipulate punishments in
cases where law enforcement agencies violate the procedures.

He said in one instance, a person summoned by the police for
questioning in relation to the libel charges against politician
Sri Bintang Pamungkas complained that the statement that he was
asked to sign did not reflect the verbal statement he made to the
investigators.

The man has also said he was forced to make statements
incriminating the suspect, Abdul Hakim said.

Article 117 of the criminal code procedures stipulates that a
suspect's or a witness' testimony is given before the
investigators on condition that he/she is free from any kinds of
pressure and the investigators write the testimony appropriately.

Abdul Hakim said the way police broke into the office of the
Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) in March last year and
seized materials from the office to build their case against
members of the group violated the criminal code procedures.

"Such procedural violations had occurred and will continue to
happen because there are no sanctions against the perpetrators in
the criminal code procedures," Hakim said.

Most pre-trial hearings filed by defendants against police and
district attorneys for procedural irregularities were defeated in
court because of the lack of clarity on the issue in the criminal
code procedures. (imn)