Law for civilians not the same as for police, TNI

Law for civilians not the same as for police, TNI

Novan Iman Santosa and Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

This nation seems to have a huge stock of shocking legal
violations. One ongoing case involves no less a figure than Comr.
Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb, a former Jakarta Police chief.

Jacoeb is now under investigation for issuing temporary
vehicle documents for 11 Mercedes Benz vehicles allegedly
smuggled into Indonesia from Singapore.

Jacoeb, now an inspector at the National Resilience Institute,
is alleged to have committed the crime during his term as chief
of the South Sulawesi Police and after he became head of the
Jakarta Police last year.

But whether justice will be served in this case is the
question that concerns the public, and rightly so judging from
earlier treatment accorded members of the Indonesian Military
(TNI) and the National Police under the law.

A drug case involving the son of a former top Army officer
serves as an example.

Second Lt. Agus Isrok of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus)
was arrested for the possession of drugs on Aug. 8, 1999. A
Jakarta Military Tribunal sentenced him on June 22, 2000, to four
years in prison, as well as discharging him from the service.

Months later, the Jakarta Military High Court reduced the
sentence to two years and reinstated Agus as an Army officer.

Agus' codefendant, Donny Hendrian, was sentenced to a nine-
year jail term and was ordered to pay a fine of Rp 200 million by
the West Jakarta District Court in April 2000.

Justice for military and police officers is one thing, and the
discrepancies between the punishments for soldiers and civilians
is another. Unlike Agus, an Army officer and the eldest son of
former Army chief Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo, Donny is a civilian.

Criminologist Adrianus Meliala said criminal cases involving
military and police personnel were investigated by the Military
Police, and then handed over to military prosecutors to try
before a military tribunal.

But they use the same Criminal Code for civilians, he said.

The discrepancies arise, according to Adrianus, because
although the same Criminal Code is used for both civilians and
the military, military tribunals tend to hand down much lighter
sentences than civilian courts.

"Military tribunals cut military defendants some slack for
serving the country as military officers," Adrianus told The
Jakarta Post on Monday.

And in the military, he added, a criminal case does not
necessarily have to be handed over to the Military Police, should
the commanding officer decide, for example, that it could badly
tarnish the image of the military. So cases can be closed after
the soldier in question has received "internal punishment", such
as physical punishment.

Referring to Jacoeb's case, Adrianus said that even though
police personnel were subject to the Criminal Code, it ultimately
depended on their superiors as to how their cases would be dealt
with.

"A police chief could decide that a criminal case, once dealt
with by internal affairs or even by police detectives, is
finished and done with," he said.

"The officer in trouble may get reprimanded, suspended or even
dishonorably discharged, but if a police chief decides that the
case does not have any criminal content, it will never be
forwarded to state prosecutors, as it would according to the new
2002 law on the police."

What is ludicrous here, he said, is that police investigations
of criminal cases involving police officers or officials are not
overseen by an independent legal body or the Attorney General's
Office.

"Sometimes, police officers are grilled by detectives, who are
their colleagues or friends," Adrianus said.

Criminologist Harkristuti Harkrisnowo said the use of military
tribunals should be limited. According to Law No. 31/1997, these
tribunals should hear cases involving violations of regulations
on military ethics and military discipline, such as desertion,
insubordination or stealing and passing on confidential files to
a foreign country.

"These tribunals should not include heavy cases like homicide,
rape or drug trafficking. The use of the military tribunal should
be limited. The heavier cases, legally speaking, should be tried
in civilian courts," Harkristuti said.