Komnas HAM: Criticising Government Policy Is Part of Exercising the Right to Free Expression
Jakarta (ANTARA) - National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) Chairman Anis Hidayah has stated that criticising government policy is part of the exercise of the right to free expression, which the state is obliged to protect and fulfil.
Anis made the remarks in an interview with ANTARA regarding the terror threats received by Tiyo Ardianto, head of the Student Executive Board (BEM) at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), after he criticised government policy.
“Criticising policy is certainly part of exercising the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and it should be respected, protected, and fulfilled by the state. The government therefore ought not to be reactive about it,” Anis said at the Komnas HAM building in Jakarta on Tuesday.
She said what must be ensured is that criticism of policy is conducted in a constructive, peaceful manner and without the use of violence.
“As far as I have observed, the way BEM has conveyed its criticism has been peaceful,” she said.
She further explained that Komnas HAM had not yet received a formal complaint regarding the terror threats experienced by the UGM BEM chairman.
“However, we note that criticising state policy in a democracy is something that should be considered important — it is part of the checks and balances in our national life,” she said.
It was previously reported that UGM BEM Chairman Tiyo Ardianto received threatening WhatsApp messages, including kidnapping threats, from a number with a British country code.
In addition to the kidnapping threats, the perpetrator also sent messages accusing Tiyo of being a foreign agent and seeking attention. “Foreign agent. Stop seeking the spotlight and peddling rubbish narratives,” the message read.
In a letter addressed to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Tiyo had criticised the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme. He highlighted the programme’s financing, which he argued sidelined budgetary priorities for addressing inequality.
Tiyo’s criticism was prompted by the case of a primary school pupil in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) who allegedly took his own life due to his family’s economic hardship.
In response to the incident, Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai stated that the terror threats could not have originated from the government.
According to him, President Prabowo Subianto has affirmed that the law must not be used by those in power for the sake of maintaining power or silencing human rights. He therefore declared it impossible that the government would terrorise its own citizens.
“The law will never be used as a tool of those in power to justify their version of the truth and silence people — never. That is why I can assure you that the terror threats could not possibly be from the government,” he said at the Ministry of Human Rights offices on Friday (20 February).