Law on 'insulting' rulers attacked
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)