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.
COMMENTARY: Freddy’s statement, drug abuse and our shared responsibility
Change Size
Security personnel secure the second case review of drug lord Freddy Budiman (center) in Cilacap, Central Java. Freddy was executed by firing squad, along with three other drug convicts, in the early hours of July 29, 2016. (JP/Agus Maryono)
A
verbal statement by drug convict Freddy Budiman accusing members of three prominent institutions of complicity in the drug trade, which went viral after rights activist Haris Azhar posted it on his Facebook account a few hours before Freddy’s execution on July 29, has aroused the nation’s consciousness that drug-related crimes in the country are more serious than we imagine.
In his account, which he gave to Haris during the latter’s visit to a maximum security prison on Nusakambangan Island two years ago, Freddy said high-ranking officers within the police force, the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) and the Indonesian Military (TNI) had helped him smuggle and distribute illegal drugs in the country.
It is very unlikely that Haris, who is also coordinator of the Commission for Disappeared People and Victims of Violence (Kontras), had a malicious intent to discredit the three institutions. He said the revelation was meant to stimulate a thorough investigation into such illicit practices. Haris might have the intention to influence the country’s policymakers to reconsider Freddy’s execution because law enforcement officers had been involved in the illegal business.
Yet, the three institutions reported Haris for defamation. They accused Haris of breaching the 2008 Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE) Law by circulating defamatory information on the internet. They, plus the Law and Human Rights Ministry, also decided to launch separate investigations to verify Freddy’s allegations.
Apparently under pressure because of widespread criticisms, the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) said it would put the defamation case against Haris on hold while the investigations were underway. National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar told the media on Wednesday of the importance of maintaining good relations with civil society organizations, especially Kontras.
The decision to suspend the legal case came only days after National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian formed a team of 18 members consisting of police investigators and representatives of the public to investigate the claims.
In a different tone, the TNI headquarters had clarified that its internal investigation was meant to prove whether Freddy’s allegations were true.
Freddy’s reported claim, althought not yet legally proven, has added to widespread information about officers’ involvement in the illegal drug trade. Worse, as Freddy claimed, drugs confiscated by police and the BNN had frequently been resold to “the market” for various reasons and purposes.
A positive response has come from TNI chief Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo, who said that TNI headquarters would support the investigation into Freddy’s allegations. The general said in a press statement that TNI headquarters would especially verify Freddy’s claim that a senior TNI officer had escorted him while he was transporting a drug-loaded vehicle belonging to a two-star general from Medan, North Sumatra, to Jakarta in 2012.
While indicating such illegal practices would apparently involve government and law enforcement officers, including those of the TNI, Gatot said he was committed to cleaning up the military institution of such serious offenses. The TNI chief cited that while the accused TNI member was a two-star general at the time of the occurrence, he might have retired or become a three-star general by now.
Despite the alleged involvement of the three institutions in the drug ring, the general public should share the responsibility for the rampant drug trade and abuse in the country.
Perhaps the 2013 investigation into celebrity Raffi Ahmad over alleged possession and use of drugs exemplified how members of the general public should share the blame for the country’s failure to combat drug trafficking and abuse.
The case against the television personality should have proceeded in accordance with the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP) with the litigation guidelines and the Criminal Code (KUHP) as the legal foundation. Instead of simply following the two legal references, Raffi apparently did a “backroom deal” to secure his temporary release from detention and was placed under house arrest. Raffi also agreed to fire his defense lawyer Hotma Sitompul as part of the package, in exchange for his release.
Raffi was arrested along with 16 others on Jan. 27, 2013, when the BNN raided his house in South Jakarta in the early hours of the morning. BNN agents found two marijuana cigarettes and 14 methylone (MDMC) capsules in the house, which the agency claimed were Raffi’s property.
The case against Raffi was controversial since the very beginning, but particularly after a BNN doctor stated that Raffi had consumed methylone for a long time and should be treated at the agency’s rehabilitation center in Lido, Sukabumi. His lawyer’s attack on the controversial medical examination and the subsequent recommendation for rehabilitation at the center had apparently angered the BNN.
The agency had reportedly been in a difficult situation and under pressure to build the case against him. The problem with the case is that it really did not exist. The 2009 Narcotics Law does not include MDMC among its 39 illegal substances, making the legal case against Raffi a weak one as it involved two small marijuana cigarettes, while the case for “rehabilitation” was even weaker.
Instead of going ahead with the legal fight for his freedom, the TV presenter eventually resorted to a “secret” settlement of his case. It was an apparent display of the absolute abnegation of justice in this country.
The three law enforcement institutions are in hot water following Freddy’s posted testimony. Yet, all of us as members of the nation actually should not be exempted from the shared responsibility.
