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Jokowi admits police, TNI overreacted to his order
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has admitted that military and police officers have overreacted to his order to uphold the law against any efforts to spread communist teachings.
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Members of Front Pancasila protest the National Symposium 1965 event at the Farmers' Statute in Jakarta on April 18. They accused the event of being a clandestine effort to revive the defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI). (Antara/Rivan Awal Lingga)
P
resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has admitted that military (TNI) and police officers have overreacted to his order to uphold the law against any efforts to spread communist teachings.
The President greatly respected freedom of the press and academic freedom as essential parts of a democratic society, and therefore considered the seizing of goods with left-wing symbols as excessive, said Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung.
"Democracy is the substance of the state. So the police, as well as the military, went too far with their sweeping operations," Pramono said at the State Palace on Friday.
The President had explicitly ordered the TNI commander and National Police chief to immediately prevent their personnel from carrying out similar actions in the future, said Pramono, adding that in the democratic era, such seizures should no longer occur.
National Police chief Gen. Badrodin Haiti said earlier that the President had instructed law enforcement bodies to enforce the laws against the use of communist imagery. "That has already clearly been instructed. Law enforcement agencies will be assisted by the Indonesian Army as well," Badrodin added.
Parmono admitted that the President had indeed previously instructed both institutions to enforce the laws against the use of communist imagery. However, he said the implementation of those laws must consider human rights and freedom of expression.
"The point is that we respect the substance of the laws, but implementation in the community does not have to be excessive," he explained
Police and TNI personnel have cracked down on recent discussions and film screenings related to the 1965 tragedy, as well as vendors selling communism-related merchandise. Most recently, they raided several publishing companies in Yogyakarta to seize left-wing books. (bbn)
