Respecting the law

Only two months ago Indonesians celebrated their country's 50th anniversary of independence. Many hopes were expressed at the time about the improvement of conditions in all fields. Many people expected Indonesia's political development to receive more serious attention, so that people might enjoy greater freedom and openness. Expectations also grew that the supremacy of the law referred to in the 1945 Constitution would become reality.

It is therefore tragically ironic to see the increasing tendency of disrespect toward the universal principles of the presumption of innocence and the rule of law. Villagers near Bekasi, some 30 kilometers south of Jakarta, recently attacked the house of a murder suspect. The angry mob was not patient enough to await the court's verdict in the case, even though the police had acted swiftly in investigating the murder and arresting the suspect. While the mob's violent actions were apparently spontaneous, the question remains why they took the law into their own hands.

It is deplorable to see that this trend is not limited to uneducated villagers but seems to reflect a culture of lawlessness which permeates all social layers of our society.

Last month in Surabaya, Indonesia's second largest city, a mysterious group of people attacked the house of a local legislator who had criticized one of the mayor's policies. Police have questioned several suspects and believe mayoralty officers were involved in the shameful incident.

Higher up the social ladder, certain authorities recently publicly accused a number of public figures of having communist leanings. The accusation has provoked sharp criticism from many quarters, including calls that more details be provided. These have not yet been forthcoming, although the authorities maintain that they have enough evidence to support their charges. There has been no indication that the suspects are to be indicted, with the authorities saying that the exercise of branding the men communists was meant as a warning to the public about the danger of the revival of the Indonesian Communist Party through "formless organizations".

The authorities' reluctance to meet the demand for evidence has caused both regret and fear on the part of many innocent people. This is a natural consequence of vague statements, when basic questions are left unanswered.

In such a confusing situation it is not surprising that many people now fear that they may be next to be accused of subversion by the authorities, without evidence being furnished. This is an instance in which it seems that the law has not been respected and in which the courts may not be the last bastions of justice.

To many of us, history seems to be repeating itself in a frightening way. The current scare-mongering is reminiscent of the last years of the Old Order regime, when the Communist Party exercised great influence. At that time the authorities, supported by the communists, drummed up all sorts of campaigns against those opposed to communism. They not only bandied about threatening slogans, but also accused anti-communists of suffering from "communist-phobia" and of being "counter- revolutionary."

In fact, the prologue to the abortive 1965 communist coup attempt began when the people became restricted in expressing concern about the dangers of communist ideology. The authorities and the communists seemed to have managed to shape public opinion, or at least to neutralize it, as groundwork for the planned coup. It is very natural that people do not want to see a return of that situation.

After celebrating the golden anniversary of independence, our people deserve to live in peace, free from the menace of mysterious specters.