T

he State Secrecy Bill, should it be passed into law by the House of Representatives by the end of this month, will regulate that any citizen found accountable for leaking state secrets may face the death penalty or up to 20 years' imprisonment and fines of Rp 100 million (US$9,940).

The stipulation is one of at least 40 issues that the House working committee on the secrecy bill has agreed on. The committee has also reached an agreement on the definition of "state secrets".

"State secrets are information, materials or activities that are classified as secrets by the President, and if that information is leaked to those who do not have the right to obtain such information it could potentially endanger the state, its livelihood or its unity," committee chairman Guntur Sasono of the Democratic Party told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

A committee member, Effendi Choirie of the National Awakening Party (PKB) faction said the details of that stipulation were then regulated in the bill's following articles.

"For example, only intelligence-sensitive information is classified as secret," he said when asked about the opinion growing within the community that the stipulation was too generic and flexible, and open to different interpretations.

Effendi said the committee had also agreed on maximum penalties for leaking state secrets.

"The maximum penalty is 20 years in prison or death," he said.

Separately, the deputy chairman of House Commission I overseeing defense and intelligence, Yusron Ihza Mahendra of the Crescent Star Party (PBB), told the Post that the fine was up to Rp 5 billion.

Meanwhile, Imparsial Human Rights Watch research coordinator Al Araf told a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday that even though some of the bill's controversial articles had been dropped, most of it made it difficult for the public to obtain vital information.

"It is difficult enough for us to investigate human rights violation cases without the existence of a State Secrecy Law, let alone having such a law in our system," Al Araf said.

He acknowledged the importance of a nation having a state secrecy law to ensure its security.