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GOs want law enforcers to take into consideration the impending revision of the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) concerning elderly lawbreakers.

The NGOs, collectively called the Committee for Criminal Law Procedures Code Reform, are advocating the consideration of the use of certain parts of the KUHAP bill and a Supreme Court regulation on misdemeanors, which they say are urgent following the recent prosecution of elderly lawbreakers.

The committee said some recent prosecutions would not have happened if law enforcers had applied a Supreme Court regulation in which a misdemeanor went through a special procedure.

'€œRegarding the elderly, the bill stipulates a mechanism for settling disputes outside of court, with certain conditions,'€ said University of Indonesia law expert Evi Achjani during a discussion organized by the committee in Cikini, Central Jakarta.

'€œLaw enforcers could proceed with this kind of process instead of following normal procedure,'€ she added.

One such case in which normal procedure was applied to an elderly person was the prosecution of Asyani, 70, in Situbondo, East Java. Asyani was charged with stealing seven pieces of wood belonging to state company PT Perhutani. The prosecutor demanded she be sentenced to one year in jail and fined Rp 500 million (US$38,608).

Another case was Minah, 55, in Purwokerto, Central Java. She was charged with stealing three cocao plants from PT Rumpun Sari Antan (RSA). She was sentenced to one month and 15 days in jail. The judge cried when reading out
the verdict.

'€œI think we need alternative procedures for them,'€ Evi said.

'€œIt would not have happened if the law enforcers had considered the Supreme Court regulation,'€ said a member of the committee, Juliando Dasdo, who is also a lawyer.

Juliando was referring to article 9 of the regulation in which a single judge presides over a case if a loss of less than Rp 2 million is inflicted.

A single judge makes the legal process faster so that a defendant does not need to go through a lengthy trial.

Article 9 of the regulation stipulates that the court chief judge should choose a single judge to investigate, preside over the trial and make a ruling if the crime caused a loss of less than Rp 2 million. It can be used instead of the prevailing law, which says that misdemeanors are crimes causing losses of less than Rp 7,500.

'€œIt'€™s very difficult to find a crime that causes a loss of less than Rp 7,500,'€ Evi told The Jakarta Post.

The current law put emphasis on equality before the law, which the committee warned would impact the elderly if implemented rigidly.

The law, for example, gives little consideration to the weight of a crime. The legal procedures for a misdemeanor is the same as for a felony.

'€œToday there are corrupt people who are above 60. Corruption is an extraordinary crime that is different from a crime committed by those elderly,'€ Evi said.

It also gives little consideration to age, particularly for the elderly with no stipulation of maximum age of a person who should go through a separate legal process.

'€œDo we still need to prosecute the elderly if the aim of prosecution is deterrence?'€ Evi added.

The NGOs further want the government to refine the bill to deal in detail with the level of offenses, and to make a clear age limit of perpetrators.

They also urged that the Supreme Court regulation be applied, and for the government to complete and pass the bill into law as soon as possible. (saf)