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Specter of Soeharto raised
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Lesson learned – Then Maj.Gen.Soeharto (right) let an operation to remove the bodies of military generals, who were killed and dumped into a well at the G30S coup headquarters called “Lubang Buaya” in the 1965 incident. (Tempo/-)
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everal lawmakers have described the arrest of eight antigovernment political figures for alleged treason as premature, and fear it could be a precursor to more draconian acts reminiscent of the authoritarian regime of president Soeharto.
In a hearing with the National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian, Golkar Party lawmaker Bambang Soesatyo, chairman of House Commission III overseeing security, human rights and legal affairs called the arrest of eight individuals including former dissident Sri Bintang Pamungkas and retired TNI general Kivlan Zen a “repressive” measure.
“The police should avoid making such arrests. There are more dignified ways [of safeguarding the government] that aren’t in violation of our democracy or restrict the freedom of speech,” Bambang said during the hearing on Monday.
In the morning of Dec. 2, just as anti-Ahok protesters began making their way to the National Monument (Monas) to stage a rally demanding the imprisonment of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama for blasphemy, the police arrested eight figures known for their opposition to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration on charges of treason.
Other than Sri Bintang and Kivlan, those arrested included Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, sister of Megawati Soekarnoputri, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the leading party in the government coalition.
The arrestees were charged under articles 107, 110 and 87 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) on treason and conspiracy to commit treason.
On the same day, the police also arrested musician-cum-politician Ahmad Dhani, who is charged with insulting the President, and two other men for allegedly promoting hate speech in contravention of the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law.
Eight people were later released pending further investigation but Sri Bintang and the two other suspects identified as the Kobar brothers, Rizal and Jamran, remain in detention.
Bambang said the government should not have overreacted to the possibility of treason. “We see no movement by university students like what we saw in 1998, and the people seem to love the President. There’s nothing to indicate that treason is brewing,” he said.
Democratic Party lawmaker Erma Ranik said the arrests could have a chilling effect on the country’s fledgling democracy.
“People will be afraid if the police can simply arrest them for expressing their antigovernment political opinions,” Erma said.
Tito defended the move saying that the police had monitored the figures for weeks before making the arrests and maintained that the Dec. 2 rally passed off peacefully only because of the drastic measure.
“We know that the GNPF-MUI [National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Council’s Fatwa] and other Muslims went to the National Monument to perform Friday prayers and pray for the country. They were sincerely demanding law enforcement against Ahok. However, there was a group that aimed to take political advantage of the rally by directing them [participants] to the House complex for attempted treason,” Tito said.
Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said the police expected to make more arrests in the future. “As to other actors, we’ll see, but not now,” Boy said.
Constitutional law expert Irman Putra Sidin said the police could not apply treason charges against individuals who only made calls to occupy the House building.
“It is treason if these people go to the TNI [Indonesian Military] headquarters and urge soldiers to take over the government from the President. It is too premature to claim that there was an indication of treason in this case,” Irman said.
Another constitutional law expert Refly Harun said that in a democracy there was only a fine line between free speech and treason, so it was incumbent upon the police to be very cautious when handling treason allegations.
“Treason must constitute a grand plan to overthrow the legitimate government, not simply making a public call to do so,” he said.
