Jakartans' legal awareness improves: LBH
Jakartans' legal awareness improves: LBH
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta legal aid foundation (LBH Jakarta)
chief Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan said yesterday that the legal
awareness of Jakartans is improving.
"Despite some limitations in freedom of speech and freedom to
assemble, we found that the people's legal awareness has improved
significantly," Luhut said in the foundation's year-end press
conference.
He said that such improvement was attributable to the number of
cases brought to the foundation regarding freedom of speech and
freedom to assemble. Luhut said that the number of cases handled by
the foundation this year involved 19 of its lawyers.
"This year we handled 1,208 cases, up from only 881 last year,"
he said
Citing the arrest of some demonstrators who protested the banning
of three weekly publications in June and 21 students who were
staging a protest in the House of Representatives (DPR) last year,
Luhut said that their actions were misjudged by the government.
"They merely used their constitutional rights," he said.
Luhut said that the government tends to judge labor activists as
criminals. As a result, when a company's management reports a strike
to the police, the police then investigate the case with workers
suspected of being criminals.
"Labor cases should be settled under the Civil Code, which
regulates the relationship of employers and their workers, not with
the Criminal Code," he said.
He warned that the government's application of the same code on
outspoken critics could create new problems. The people will try to
find other bodies to complain to such as the House.
During the press conference Luhut also criticized the extensive
use of Article 510 of the Criminal Code, which rules that a person
will be punished if he or she arranges a party, a gathering or a
parade without the approval of the authorities.
The article is limiting people's freedom to expression and
assembly, both of which are guaranteed in the 1945 Constitution, he
said.
"This year there were at least two seminars which were banned
under the article," Luhut said.
The first banning was imposed on a seminar held in September by
the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation about land ownership.
The second occurred six days ago when the Indonesian Anti-Nuclear
Society and Indonesian Forum for Environment held a seminar
regarding nuclear power in Indonesia.
Another abuse of police authority, which was noted by Luhut this
year, has been the killing of suspected criminals by sharpshooters.
"According to the foundation, there were at least 50 people shot
to death this year, most in the middle of the night," Luhut said,
adding that the shootings were an abuse of legal procedure and
civilized legal culture.
At the end of the press conference, Luhut predicted that the
people's legal awareness would continue to improve, especially after
Indonesia is involved in some international agreements, such as the
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. (mas)