Witness protection bill hailed as step forward

Witness protection bill hailed as step forward

Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Activists hailed on Friday a bill on witness and victim
protection, but demanded that it not only provide protection for
witnesses in criminal cases, but ensure leniency for those people
involved in criminal cases willing to testify against fellow
defendants.

"This will help investigators probe crimes thoroughly," said
the coordinator of the Indonesian Corruption Watch, Teten
Masduki.

Leniency, Teten added, must not be given to the main
defendants in criminal cases.

He was referring to the case of a middleman, Endin Wahyudi,
who accused three Supreme Court justices of bribery last year.
While the justices were cleared of all charges due to a lack of
evidence, Endin was arraigned for defamation and sentenced to
three months in prison, with a six-month probation.

Lawyer turned legislator Trimedya Panjaitan agreed with Teten,
saying the witness and victim protection bill must encourage
witnesses to give honest testimony.

The two men said there had been cases where witnesses were
unwilling to testify because of threats from defendants.

House of Representatives legislators submitted the witness and
victim protection bill this week, after a series of hearings with
non-governmental organizations and scholars. A national symposium
was held at Brawijaya University in Malang, East Java, in March
to discuss this issue.

The bill proposes that witnesses and crime victims must first
file a request before receiving protection.

The protection of witnesses and victims must be approved by
the Institution for Witness and Victim Protection, an independent
body to be set up after the bill is endorsed.

According to Article 19 of the bill, witnesses and victims
must sign an agreement before receiving protection. The agreement
lays out a number of terms and conditions, including the
requirement that witnesses comply with all regulations, avoid
contact with other people and keep their whereabouts a secret.

Apart from protection, victims of human rights abuses will
receive medical and psychological treatment, upon official
request to the protection body.

Teten said his organization was among those repeatedly calling
for a witness and protection bill.

"We hope the legislators invite us to discuss the draft," he
told The Jakarta Post by phone.

According to Teten, the bill should provide protection for
witnesses and victims prior to and following a trial. Teten added
that such protection could be provided by the police or an
independent body.

But Trimedya said police protection by itself was
insufficient.

Key articles

Article 5: Witnesses and victims have the right to protection,
the counsel of a lawyer, a new identity,
relocation and a transportation allowance, as well as having
their family protected.

Article 7: Compensation will be outlined further in a
government regulation.

Article 8: Protection is given from the start of the
investigation process.

Article 18: Witnesses and victims must apply for protection to a
body which will decide whether to approve
the request.

Article 20: Protection can be terminated upon the request of
witnesses or victims, or if witnesses or victim
breach their agreements.

Article 25: Anyone who threatens a witness to prevent them
from testifying in court are subject to four years
imprisonment and a Rp 200 million fine.
If their actions harm the witness/victim, they are
subject to seven years imprisonment and a Rp 500
million fine.

Source: Witness and Victim Protection Bill