YLBHI has another brush with the law

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) yesterday launched a strong protest after police broke up a seminar on land conflicts it was organizing in Jakarta.

The seminar, which was to feature distinguished speakers from the legal profession, had barely begun when about a dozen police officers moved into the building and declared the gathering illegal in the absence of any official permit.

"The action to disperse the seminar goes against the law and the spirit and letter of the 1945 Constitution which guarantees freedom of association and speech," YLBHI said in a statement last night. The statement was signed by YLBHI Chairman Adnan Buyung Nasution and Executive Director Mulyana Kusumah.

According to an Antara dispatch, the police officers from the South Jakarta precinct gave the seminar's participants four minutes to leave the building. They left in an orderly manner.

Participants included members of the House of Representatives (DPR), the National Commission on Human Rights and activists of non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The seminar was to feature speakers such as Maria Sumardjono, dean of the law school of the University of Gadjah Mada, Bambang Wijayanto of YLBHI and Dr. Erman Radjagukguk of the law school of the University of Indonesia.

Luhut Pangaribuan, Director of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute, who moderated the seminar's first session, said the government had no authority to ban the seminar because besides posing no threat to the national stability, such a meeting was guaranteed by the constitution and the law.

Harjono Tjitrosoebono, chairman of the Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin), also criticized the police action.

"There is no law which authorizes the police or security officers to stop people from speaking in a seminar," he said. "This is a state based on law. If the police do not obey the law, what can we expect from them?" the senior lawyer asked.

Trimoeljo D. Soerjadi, chairman of Ikadin's Surabaya chapter, criticized the police for being inconsistent in implementing its policy. "If Golkar (the ruling party) organizes a meeting, does it have to apply for a permit? If it does not have the permit, will the police dismiss the meeting?" he asked. (rms/sim)