Military soldiers may be tried in civil court
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Soldiers involved in non-military crimes will be subject to trials in district courts in the near future, if the House of Representatives and the government agree on the amendment to Law No. 31/1997 on military tribunals.
A draft revision to the law made available to The Jakarta Post on Thursday states that the military tribunal will only hear cases of violations of Military Law, such as desertion, insubordination and all internal administrative cases.
"Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers will be subject to the military tribunal only for their violations of Military Law, while public courts will hear their cases of violations of the Criminal Code," it said.
Besides stripping the military tribunal of its authority, the draft revision also ordered the transfer of the TNI's control over its tribunal to the Supreme Court.
Article 6 of the draft stipulates that the Supreme Court is responsible for the tribunal's administrative and financial arrangements as well as its technical development.
The transfer of the tribunal's authority from the military has also been regulated in the Judiciary Law, under which the Supreme Court supervises the management of all courts.
Based on the law, the Supreme Court officially took over the administration and supervision of the military tribunal from the TNI on Wednesday.
Under Article 7 of the draft revision, the line of command from the military headquarters is not totally severed as the TNI chief will still wield the authority to supervise military judges stationed at the tribunal.
Chief justice Bagir Manan said on Wednesday that the sweeping transfer of authority would not be done hastily. "It would be better if we follow the procedures carefully and slowly to ensure the system works well," he said.
The draft is being proposed by the House after years of public concern over the seclusion of military personnel from district courts, although they commit ordinary crimes such as theft, murder and other violations of the Criminal Code.
Chairman of the House's lawmaking body Zain Badjeber said that such an extensive change could transpire only after the legislature and the government agreed on the amendments to the Military Tribunal Law.
"The transfer of the administration and supervision of the military tribunal from the TNI to the Supreme Court merely concerns the administrative side of the whole matter," he told The Jakarta Post.
Contacted separately on Thursday, noted criminologist Harkristuti Harkrisnowo from the University of Indonesia said that district courts and prosecutors would face a tough task ahead in applying the Criminal Code.
"Judges and prosecutors will probably need one or two years to familiarize themselves with the military ranking system, technical terms and their standard operating procedures," she told the Post.
She also said that even seasoned judges would face psychological hurdles when hearing a case involving military officers. "Their presence in the court alone is enough to send a chill down a judge's spine," she said.