Security bill will not replace subversion law
Security bill will not replace subversion law
JAKARTA (JP): The government reiterated yesterday the
controversial subversion law is here to stay, despite the growing
clamor for it to be replaced by an internal security act.
Minister of Defense and Security Edi Sudradjat said after a
plenary meeting with the House of Representatives that the
government was drafting an internal security bill, that it would
not replace the 1963 Subversion Law.
He defended the subversion law, which carries a maximum
penalty of death and is known to have been used to cover a very
wide range of offenses. He admitted however that the law did need
improvement.
Edi said the draft is being discussed at the State
Secretariat. A government-sponsored bill must be approved by the
State Secretariat before going to the House.
"The internal security bill covers different issues from those
in the subversion law. The two regulations are very different
things."
Edi said it was unlikely that the House would begin
deliberating the internal security bill before the current
legislators end their five-year term on Sept. 30.
"We'd better work step by step. It takes more than one or two
days to draw up a bill," he said.
The House is deliberating four security and defense affairs
bills. They are on military tribunals, mass mobilization,
military discipline and the national police.
Edi was commenting on a call from the United Development Party
(PPP) faction that the government should submit the internal
security bill as soon as possible.
PPP spokesman Zarkasih Nur told the plenary session discussing
the four bills yesterday that an internal security act should
serve as a revision of the subversion law.
"Punitive measures against those charged with subversive
crimes cannot be separated from all efforts to maintain national
security," Zarkasih said.
PPP concluded that the subversion law did not comply with a
1966 decision of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly
which suggests the abolition of all laws whose substances is
contrary to the 1945 Constitution.
Edi said: "We are considering adjustment of the law in order
to catch up with the recent development of our society. It needs
a process, so give us time."
He stressed that a subversion law remained relevant although
the government had been successful in maintaining political
stability.
Support
Hari Sabarno, vice chairman of the Armed Forces faction on
House Commission I for foreign affairs, defense and information,
backed the government's stance.
"People should not worry about the legal consequences of the
law provided they do not try to violate it. I believe the
government will not apply the law arbitrarily," Hari said.
The latest instance of people being charged with subversion is
the ongoing trials of nine People's Democratic Party activists
and a union leader in connection with their alleged roles in the
July 27 riots.
The same charges look certain to be leveled against four youth
activists who have been accused of inciting riots in Tasikmalaya,
West Java, in December.
Hari said that a national security act should regulate all
measures that could possibly be taken by security authorities
when the state is in danger, while the subversion law determines
measures that can be taken against political criminals.
Hari admitted the subversion law contained clauses known as
"rubber clauses" that are notoriously stretchable to cover a wide
range of offenses. "It's important, therefore, to avoid the
application of the subversion law if other rulings are sufficient
to punish someone," he said.
The Indonesian Democratic Party has joined the call for the
abolition of the subversion law, saying it paves the way for
human rights violations.
Party spokesman B.N. Marbun, said the internal security act
could include some clauses of the subversion law provided they
were relevant to the current situation. (amd)