The Permadi case

In connection with Mr. Dan Adams' letter (The Jakarta Post, Aug. 28, 1995), I am pleased to send you a copy of Mr. Permadi's talk, given during the "Panel Forum on the Indonesian Presidency," held on April 27 and April 28, 1994 at the Gajah Mada University campus.

I was also invited to be one of the speakers and my paper touched on the proposed Presidency Act. My turn was on April 27, the day before Mr. Permadi delivered his speech.

It was very unfortunate indeed that, during the question and answer session, a student (who was actually preparing his thesis on the Indonesian Presidency) raised the problem of "dictatorship", which is not mentioned in Permadi's paper.

First of all, it is useful to understand the meaning of the word "dictator". According to Webster's New World Dictionary (College Edition), it has four meanings:

1. in ancient Rome, a magistrate with supreme authority, appointed in times of emergency;

2. a ruler with absolute power and authority;

3. a person whose word must be obeyed;

4. a person who speaks aloud words for someone else to write down.

The second and the third meanings are relevant in the Permadi case.

Cindy Adams wrote a book titled My Friend (i.e. President Sukarno), the Dictator. Edward Corwin, in his book entitled The President, Office and Powers, mentioned President Lincoln as a dictator, and Mohammad Hatta (the late vice president), in his book Sekitar Proklamasi (Around the Proclamation), called President Sukarno a dictator. Neither of the three authors were summoned to court.

I think the reason is because the author did not have a so- called animus injuriandi (intention to insult) toward the President. Whether or not Mr. Permadi does have the intention to insult the Holy Prophet Muhammad (God's blessings and peace be upon him), it is up to the three judges who are handling the case at the Sleman District Court in Yogyakarta to decide.

It is interesting to note that when Mr. Permadi's wife visited me recently, she told me that her husband had actually planned to go to Mecca to perform umroh (the lesser pilgrimage). I hope he will have the opportunity to carry out his plan after he is out of jail.

In any case, I agree with Mr. Dan Adams' remark that "if Permadi said something so terrible, as to sow seeds of hatred, why did it take a whole year before those seeds ever broke the surface".

It should be noted that the majority of the audience were Moslems and that Permadi's speech was not given in Hyde Park.

HARUN ALRASID

Jakarta