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)