Editorial: Dangerous late night visit

It is very common for people to forgive and tend to set aside a mistake or wrongdoing committed by a person. However, once the same mistake is repeated and especially when such repetition has the potential of creating further problems or bringing danger to others, it is justifiable to take action — and even make it public.

It is therefore reasonable for Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Denny Indrayana to take the initiative to apprehend the alleged wrongdoers in the act at the Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta around midnight on Wednesday. Denny also held a media conference on the following day to uncover his findings.

The alleged misguided visit was made at abnormal hours by M. Nasir, a younger brother of the former Democratic Party treasurer — the man at the center of a corruption case surrounding the construction of an athletes’ village for the 2011 SEA Games in Palembang, South Sumatra, Muhammad Nazaruddin. He was accompanied by Arif Rahman and Djufri Taufik, previously known as a lawyer for Mindo Rosalina Manulang, a former business confidante of Nazaruddin, who was convicted in September last year for corruption in the same athletes’ village construction case.

Denny said it was the second such visit by Nasir, also by a House of Representatives (DPR) legislator from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party.

“Previously, Nasir had made a late night visit to the cell room of Mindo Rosalina Manulang at the Pondok Bambu female penitentiary, also in East Jakarta,” the deputy law and human rights minister said. “All of this has been made possible as Nasir had used his ticket as a member of the House’s law affairs Commission III — a privilege given to Commission members as part of their law enforcement monitoring duties.”

There was nothing wrong for anyone visiting a detained criminal or wrongdoer. Moreover, the visits were made by a House legislator who is legally equipped with such privileges. The problem is that the visits were made after the designated official morning-afternoon visiting hours, which thus raise concerns and speculation regarding the motives and the substance of the visits themselves.

Also suspicious was the presence of the two lawyers in the late Wednesday evening visit. Djufri has claimed that he no longer represents Mindo, citing that he had been hired as a member of Nazaruddin’s team of defense lawyers since October 2011, a month after the Court convicted Mindo. His move to Nazaruddin’s camp of defense counsel still cannot evade suspicions of something “murkey” behind his decision.

Denny’s decision to personally catch Nasir and the two lawyers in the act was therefore justifiable, as he did it in his capacity as a high-ranking government official performing his duties to monitor the activities of all ministry’s units and employees within his supervision.

The move by Denny, including the decision to publicize his findings, was acceptable as it could be meant to prevent the repetition of such suspicious late night visits in the future. Most importantly, it could be meant to ensure the safety of persons — either defendants or witnesses — involved in or associated with a case heard in court.

Such extra cautious measures are necessary so as to prevent any death threats targeting defendants and witnesses from recurring. Mindo once received such a threat. There must not be others.