Official admits error in detaining 9-year-old boy

Official admits error in detaining 9-year-old boy

JAKARTA (JP): A senior Ministry of Justice official admitted
yesterday that it was wrong for the authorities to have put a
nine-year-old boy in a Yogyakarta correctional institution
designed for adults.

Director General of Correctional Institutions Baharuddin Lopa
blamed the incident, which has sparked much outrage recently, on
the local prosecutor's office and the police for detaining the
boy in the first place for a minor offense.

"The boy should not have been detained because it was such a
petty crime," Lopa told reporters after attending a hearing with
Commission III of the House of Representatives.

He added that the correctional institution in Yogyakarta could
not refuse the boy when he was brought over by the prosecutors
because there was no juvenile detention center in the area.

The boy, a third grade elementary school pupil in the Kotagede
district, was detained at the local police precinct after
allegedly being caught red-handed stealing a bird worth Rp 4,000
($1.7) in April. After 45 days, he was transferred by the to
Wirogunan on June 13 based on an order from the Yogyakarta
prosecutor's office.

He was released early this week and returned to his parents
when his case became public.

Lopa, who is also the secretary-general of the National
Commission on Human Rights, said the correctional institution
does not have the authority to reject criminals or suspects sent
over by the prosecutors.

In any case, the police and the prosecutor's office should not
have detained him that long, he said, adding that the boy should
have been returned to his parents.

He emphasized that the police and the prosecutors should not
detain or prosecute children unless they are involved in very
serious crimes. He cited as an example the recent case of a taxi
driver murdered in Bekasi near Jakarta in which the suspects were
children.

On a separate occasion Muladi, a legal expert and a member of
the National Commission on Human Rights, said the detention of
the boy was a "big mistake".

"It is obvious that our law enforcers do not know of the
modern developments in criminal supervision," he was quoted by
the Antara news agency as saying on Tuesday.

Law enforcers, especially government prosecutors and police
officers, should understand and comply with the Beijing
Declaration 1985, which deals with juvenile delinquency.

Indonesia does not have special juvenile courts to allow it to
comply with the declaration.

He also noted that Indonesian law enforcement agencies are too
rigid in applying the law and are slow to adjust to new
developments. "The law enforcers comprehend the old laws in the
old context," he said.

Muladi said law enforcement agencies should not wait until the
establishment of juvenile courts to apply some of the principles
dealing with juvenile delinquency. "They should anticipate
translating the old laws," he said.

The government is currently drafting a bill on juvenile
delinquency that would establish a minimum prosecution age. "Only
children above 12 years of age are able to be pressed with
criminal charges," he said.(imn)