LPSK Emphasises Victims' Restitution Rights in Implementation of Victim Assistance Funds in South Sulawesi
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Chairman of the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) Achmadi has emphasised that the fulfilment of restitution is a right of victims that must be realised concretely within the criminal justice system, including through the mechanism of Victim Assistance Funds (DBK).
This was demonstrated in the realisation of restitution for victims of Sexual Violence Crimes (TPKS) in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Thursday.
“Every rupiah provided is part of the victim’s rights and a form of the state’s responsibility in the recovery process,” Achmadi stated in a press release received in Jakarta.
He explained that the strengthening of the restitution mechanism has undergone a long journey, starting from Law No. 13 of 2006, updated through Law No. 31 of 2014, and its derivative regulations, as the basis for fulfilling victims’ rights in the judicial process.
According to him, the utilisation of DBK becomes a solution when the perpetrator is unable to fully meet the restitution obligation, thus the state steps in to fill the gap in victim recovery.
The realisation was carried out in Makassar through cooperation between LPSK, the Barru District Prosecutor’s Office, and the Barru District Court, based on court decisions that have gained permanent legal force.
In the implementation, restitution was given to two child victims, initialled ATR for Rp69,310,000 and W for Rp27,172,600.
This step serves as a concrete implementation to ensure that court decisions do not stop at the normative aspect but provide direct benefits to victims, particularly in post-incident recovery.
Meanwhile, member of Commission XIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) Meity Rahmatia, who witnessed the DBK handover, stated that Commission XIII is committed to continuing to push for strengthened budgeting, including for victim assistance funds, so that it can run optimally and on target.
On that occasion, LPSK also gave awards to the Head of the South Sulawesi High Prosecutor’s Office, Didik Farkhan, and the Chief Judge of the Makassar High Court, Nirwana, for innovations in prima witness services across all district courts in South Sulawesi.
In addition to the Head of the South Sulawesi High Prosecutor’s Office, awards for realising victims’ rights to restitution for TPKS were also given to several other prosecutors, such as Assistant for General Criminal Affairs of the South Sulawesi High Prosecutor’s Office Teguh Suhendro, Head of the Barru District Prosecutor’s Office Erik Yudistira, Head of the General Criminal Section of the Barru District Prosecutor’s Office Rini Wijaya, as well as Muhaemin and Andi Muhammad Fatih as public prosecutors of the Barru District Prosecutor’s Office.
There is a positive trend in the development of restitution handovers in South Sulawesi.
Several achievements come from the Makassar District Prosecutor’s Office with four victims in two cases, the Jeneponto District Prosecutor’s Office with two victims in two cases, as well as the Gowa and Maros District Prosecutor’s Offices, each handling one victim in one case.
Achmadi emphasised that the success of fulfilling victims’ rights requires consistent cross-institutional synergy.
“We cannot work alone. The success of fulfilling victims’ rights can only be achieved through joint work and consistent synergy with partners,” he said.
Going forward, LPSK encourages strengthening collaboration among stakeholders so that the restitution mechanism, including through DBK, can be expanded and implemented more effectively for victims of criminal acts.