Questioning of priest raises ethical debate
Questioning of priest raises ethical debate
JAKARTA (JP): The government's summonses for a Catholic priest
and a lawyer in connection with the investigation into the July
27 riot has sparked a debate about whether they should heed the
call, and if so, how much they can divulge.
People in the two professions, through their respective
ethical codes, should be exempted from such investigation, two
experts argue, pointing out that lawyers are protected by client-
privilege regulations, while priests are sworn to the
confidentiality of confessions.
The Attorney General's Office has issued separate summonses
for Bambang Widjojanto, the chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid
Foundation, and Father Sandyawan Sumardi, S.J, a Catholic priest,
to appear as witnesses in the investigation into the unrest.
The two men are the latest addition to a long list of people,
including politicians, summoned for questioning as the Attorney
General builds its case against the perpetrators of the riot that
left four people dead.
Two men have already been charged with subversion: labor
activist Muchtar Pakpahan, and Budiman Sudjatmiko, the chairman
of the Democratic People's Party (PRD), which the government
blamed for the riot. Several other PRD activists have been
detained.
Bambang has refused to comply with the summons, stating that
he has been appointed by Muchtar to represent him. He demanded
that the authorities clarify in what capacity he is being
summoned.
Djohan Djauhari, the chairman of the Association of Indonesian
Lawyers, and Father Andang L. Binawan, S.J., an expert in Roman
Catholic Canon Law, believe that the professional codes of
lawyers and priests bar them from testifying.
The summons for Bambang is further exacerbating the abusive
way the authorities have treated lawyers, Djohan said.
He pointed out that the police still often bar lawyers from
accompanying suspects, and in July, a judge in the South Sumatra
city of Palembang even barred a lawyer from a criminal court
hearing.
Djohan said lawyers should be treated as equals of police
officers and prosecutors at a time when Indonesia is trying to
genuinely uphold the rule of law.
He said that it was an unusual for the authorities to want to
question a lawyer whose client is a suspect.
Father Andang said Canon Law protects priests from divulging
information received in the contest of personal confessions,
especially if it might harm the penitent.
"The priest cannot violate this sacramental seal," he said.
"Canon Law orders priests to foster peace and harmony based on
justice, without discriminating against religion, sex, social
status or skin color," he said, adding: "That was what
Sandyawan did when he gave shelter to Budiman and his friends."
Sandyawan has admitted to harboring Budiman and other PRD
activists, stressing that the youths had come to him for help
because of fears that the military would shoot them.
The youths were arrested on Aug. 11 at a house in Depok that
was owned by Sandyawan's brother, Benny Sumardi. The authorities
released last week Benny without charging him, but required him
to report to the police daily.
"Being a priest is not only a profession. It's a personal
choice, which demands total submission to God," Andang said.
He admitted that priests should not interfere in politics.
The only time that priests can enter politics is in the name
of protecting the Church's rights, he said. (16)