Gatherings still need permit: Police

JAKARTA (JP): National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman Astrosemitro yesterday defended the policy of requiring people to obtain a police permit for any gathering, saying that it is designed to prevent untoward incidents.

"We don't want a fire to happen without having taken proper precautions beforehand," he said during a hearing with Commission I of the House of Representatives, which deals with security affairs, yesterday.

He was responding to suggestions by scholars and politicians that rather than barring people from gathering on the grounds of security, police should take action only if such gatherings get out of control.

"We don't want the Malari incident of 1974 and the prolonged disputes in the Batak Toba Protestant Church (HKBP) to happen again," Banurusman said.

The Malari incident was a massive riot in Jakarta in January 1974 that had its origins as student anti-government demonstrations which got out of control and turned into a carnage of looting and arson of some of the capital's shopping centers.

The HKBP dispute is a more current event in which conflicting camps of the church have been locked in clashes, sometimes physically.

During the hearing yesterday, legislator Marcel Beding of the Indonesian Democratic Party, urged the authorities to abolish the policy of requiring people to obtain police permits every time they want to hold a gathering.

Marcel said the authorities should not ban a proposed public gathering if it had not occurred yet. "If the meeting is later found to be in violation of the law, the organizers or the speakers could be charged with criminal articles of the Criminal Code," he said.

By law, any gathering involving more than five people must have a permit from the authorities. Police have, in the past, turned down a number of requests for permission to hold seminars, public debates and even cultural performances, on the grounds that they had the potential to undermine national stability. There have also been occasions where police have broken up gatherings that were being held without permits.

Banurusman said the police is the final agency that issues the permits but they are coordinating with other government agencies on the issue.

He said police work with the State Intelligence Coordinating Body in considering a gathering which involves foreign speakers and with the Armed Forces Intelligence Body for domestic speakers, and the Indonesian Council of Ulemas for religious gatherings.

Police have to be very careful in issuing a permit for a public gathering as it holds the responsibility for the security of the gathering. But if organizers of a gathering meet all the requirements, then there is no reason for the police not to issue a permit, he added.

The government has announced that it is currently reviewing the policy regulating gathering permits. (imn)