The New Order regime under the late dictator Soeharto had a stronger legal system than the current system in the reform era, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said.

“When the New Order regime collapsed and we organized the reform, our legal system was very weak. The security officers are now overwhelmed in managing the excessive freedom,” he said in Jakarta on Saturday as reported by kompas.com.

Wiranto, who was the military commander when Soeharto decided to step down in 1998, gave an example of the terrorists' attack in Jl. MH Thamrin, Central Jakarta in January last year.

He said the terror attacks had actually been detected by the Police. However, the police force could not move to arrest the perpetrators on the back of the Terrorism Law, which required police to have enough evidence before making arrests.

He also cited another example that if, in a gathering, there are people shouting about coup attempts, security officers could not arrest them either as there had not been any actions executed.

“In the past, if five people gathered and discussed [something suspicious], authorities could arrest them. If they were not guilty then they could be released. There is no pretrial motion,” he said referring to the attempt made by people challenging the investigators’ decision to name suspects. (rin)

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