House, govt make progress on bill debate

House, govt make progress on bill debate

JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives and the government
have reached an agreement on 12 principles to be included in the
bill on freedom of expression.

Sutradara Ginting, a member of House Commission I on
information and law, said that he was optimistic the draft law
would be in favor of democracy.

"If the bill turns out to be 'anti-democracy', the public is
entitled to slam the House," he said after attending a closed
session to deliberate the bill with Minister of Justice and
Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen.
Wiranto here on Friday.

Sutradara praised the two ministers' democratic stance in
discussions of the draft law.

"The government is being quite democratic by deliberating this
bill," he said.

He added that deliberation of the bill and the draft political
laws, both of which were recently submitted by the government,
was a starting point for the House to begin restoring its badly-
tarnished image.

Commenting on Friday's session, he said progress had been made
with the striking of an agreement on "12 principles" which should
be contained in the bill.

The 12 principles agreed to are as follows:
* no permits for demonstrations, neither explicit nor implicit,
will be needed from the police.
* demonstrators are required to provide the police with written
notification. The notification is necessary to enable the police
to provide them with protection. Ginting said the police should
not use this clause to impose an unofficial permit system because
they have no right to reject any notification.
* the number of demonstrators in any protest is not limited.
* there must not be any physical or psychological intervention in
any shape or form to prevent people from exercising their freedom
of expression.
* anyone, including private citizens and members of the state
apparatus who obstruct or interfere with a demonstration can be
penalized. "'Anyone' includes officials who find themselves
targeted by demonstrations," Ginting said.
* all government officials, including the country's president,
can be the subject of protests. Protests are permitted in all
public places.
* all stipulations in the bill that could be interpreted in more
than one way should be elucidated in the bill's explanatory
chapters. "This will include definitions of what constitutes
'disturbing public order' and 'threatening national union and
unity' to avoid misinterpretation," Ginting said.
* people who witness demonstrations have the right to help
maintain security and are entitled to lodge complaints with the
police if they are disturbed.
* the organizers of academic activities on university campuses
and religious activities are not required to notify the police.
* the expression of opinion through the mass media is not subject
to regulation under the bill.
* labor strikes in work places are not regulated under the bill.
* materials distributed at demonstrations do not require official
approval.

Ginting said his fellow legislators in the commission should
strive to ensure that all chapters and articles in the bill
reflect these principles.

Asked about possible sanctions, Ginting said the bill referred
to the Criminal Code. "The penalties comprise of administrative
sanctions, criminal and civil penalties," he said. (aan)