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House kicks off deliberation on terrorism bills
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Members of the National Police’s Densus 88 counterterrorism squad escort security officials in possession of evidence from the residence of Tuah Febriwansyah, who is allegedly involved in the Islamic State (IS) radical movement, in Setu, South Tangerang, Banten, on March 22, 2015. (Antara/Muhammad Iqbal)
T
he House of Representatives on Tuesday kicked off the deliberation of revised draft laws on terrorism, with the main objective to provide security institutions with greater power to prevent terrorist acts.
During the plenary session chaired by House Deputy Speaker Taufik Kurniawan on Tuesday, the House approved a special committee (Pansus) that would be tasked to deliberate the bills submitted by the government.
The committee consists of 30 members from Commission I and III overseeing defense and legal affairs.
There are two drafts laws prepared to amend Law No. 15/2003 on the Eradication of Terrorism and Law No. 9/2013 on the Prevention and Eradication of Terrorist Financing.
TB Hasanuddin, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) politician, who is also a member of the committee, stressed the importance to explicitly mention the role of the military in fighting terrorism.
He expressed optimism that the inclusion of the military's role into the law would not face significant opposition during the bill deliberation.
He, however, expressed his pessimism on the deliberation process completing this month due to the differences among members of the committee. “The revision will not finish in this current sitting session that will end on April 29," Hasanuddin said.
The additional powers that the revision seeks include the extension of detention to people suspected of planning terrorist attacks, even if the police haven't officially named them as suspects. Law enforcing institutions also demanded an authority to prevent radical preaching. (bbn)
