Law on 'insulting' rulers attacked
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Dubbed a country undergoing the transition to democracy, Indonesia still appears unable to make a clean break with the old perceptions that consider the ruler and symbols of the state sacrosanct.
Two students are standing trial on charges of insulting the President and Vice President during two separate rallies against the government. They each face jail terms of up to six years.
Prosecutors demanded on Thursday a 10-month jail term for Bay Harkat Firdaus, a Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN) student here, for burning pictures of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Yusuf Kalla during a protest against the fuel price increases last month.
He is charged under article 134 of the Criminal Code on intentionally insulting the head of state and state officials.
Meanwhile, Indonesian National Student Movement (GMNI) member Monang Johannes Tambunan stands accused of publicly insulting the head of state, an offense that carries a maximum of six years in jail, during a rally to mark Susilo's 100th day in office in January.
The two students have been detained by prosecutors.
Frans Hendra Winata of the National Law Commission regretted the prosecution of students for expressing their discontent with the government.
"A demonstration is one way for members of the public to get their voices heard. They can express their views through protests, anger, etc.," Frans said.
A president, he added, should not necessarily feel disturbed by such protests,
"Susilo was directly elected with more than 60 percent of the vote -- there is no doubt about his legitimacy. He does not have to respond to such expressions of discontent. All he needs to do is display a democratic attitude and prove the critics wrong through his successes," Frans said.
He suggested that Susilo emulate the practice in the United States, where citizens are not prosecuted for criticizing their president, and are free to say whatever they like about the chief executive.
Frans pointed out that the prosecution of citizens for insulting the head of state dated back to colonial days, when the government was at pains to prevent people in the colony from insulting the queen.
Despite the fact that Indonesia played a leading role in the campaign for decolonization around the globe following its independence in 1945, the governments of six presidents have since maintained the colonial legacy intact.
Other colonial legal provisions that the government has maintained include the wide-ranging criminal libel law, which is often used to muzzle the press.
Frans said that a demonstration, even if it involved insults against the head of state, was not a crime.
"It's a way of exercising freedom of expression and freedom of speech," he said.
Political observer Fachry Ali was more cautious, saying that the courts should be the last resort in dealing with acts or words that were deemed insulting.
"What we have to do first is to warn the protesters against committing any acts that may be deemed insulting," he said.
He said that if the offense involved a university student, law enforcers should ensure that he was formally reprimand by his rector.
"There must be an element of education involved," he said.
He said that it was necessary to promote ethical ways of criticizing others.
"If you want to make the criticism sharper, just put the facts to the fore," Fachry said.
He suggested that people focus their criticism on the government's anticorruption drive. (004)