TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Haris Azhar asks for protection should names be revealed
Change Size
In support of Kontras: Scores of activists, lawyers and public figures display placards that read “We trust Kontras”, during a press conference at the Islamic organization Muhammadiyah’s office in Jakarta on Thursday. They demanded the government establish an independent team to end collusion between state security officials and the illegal drug trade, based on the information provided by the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Haris Azhar, who received testimony from late drug convict Freddy Budiman claiming the involvement of state security officials in the illegal drug trade. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
R
ights activist Haris Azhar has requested the government's protection and commitment should the names of law enforcement personnel allegedly involved in executed convict Freddy Budiman's drug-smuggling business be revealed to the public.
Haris had previously circulated Freddy's testimony that described the alleged support from personnel within the state security apparatus for Freddy's international drugs network.
The coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said he needed the government to take a firm stance in response to the leaked information, especially in its commitment to improving law enforcement efforts against the illegal narcotics trade in the country.
"It's going to be a problem if we expose the names through the media, but there has been no response [...] and the witnesses who make the reports also need guarantees," Haris said on Friday.
Haris decided to circulate Freddy's testimony on Kontras' Facebook page on July 28 because of a lack of response from the President's Office, to whom Haris had sent the information before Freddy’s execution took place last Friday, in an attempt to get a swift response from the government to carry out measures in relation to the allegations. However, he claimed there was none.
In making the testimony public, Haris asserted that his purpose was not to undermine the credibility of the National Police, the Indonesian Military (TNI) or the National Narcotics Agency (BNN), but instead to assist the three institutions in conducting internal reforms in accordance with the principles of democracy where public participation played an important role in overseeing the country.
On Tuesday, the three institutions reported Haris to the National Police's Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) for violating the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions Law. (evi)
