Freedom Vs. Security

After nine months of debates and discussions with top government officials, last Tuesday the House of Representatives finally decided to accept the Intelligence Bill.

According to the news media the House's said decision was protested by some human rights and liberal democratic activists, who said that the new Intelligence Law would endanger democracy in general, and limit freedom of expression in particular.

One of the things they objected is the right to wiretap phone calls, which they thought might be abused by the intelligence agencies especially the State Intelligence Agency (BIN).

Due to this fact,  activists groups like the Indonesian Corruption Watch, Legal Aid Foundation, Kontras, Impartial, Elsam and other NGO planned to request the Constitutional Court to conduct a Judicial Review on Articles 25 and 26 of the said Law regarding Secret Intelligence Information including the criteria of State Security and Defense, Natural Treasure, National Economic Resilience, and Foreign Policy Interest.

As a lover of democracy, I felt that the new Intelligence Law would surely limit people's freedom therefore its implementations should be closely observe by the society so as to avoid any abuse of power.

However, as a peace loving citizen, I believe that our country, which still has so many poor people, can only develop properly if peace and order exist, if there is no acts of terrors, violence and bombings. And that can only be achieved if there is strong law enforcement that is balanced with citizen's freedom to think, speak and act on whatever is good for the people and country.

Considering the above, I felt that as long as the implementation is according to the laws and regulations, it is okay to give certain power to the intelligence agency. For example said Law ruled that wire taping can only be done if there is permit from the Court of Law.

 

Remission for Corruption, Illegal Drug and Terror Criminals

In connection with the Eid Ul-Fitr celebration, the government has been very kind to Criminals who were sentenced to jail by the Courts of Law for their involvement in Corruption, Illegal Drugs and Terrorism.

Tribune News reported that the government has granted Remission (Jail Sentence Discount) to 235 Corruption Criminals (8 released), 6,793 Illegal Drug Criminals (65 released) and 36 Terror Criminals.

This is the second time in one month that the government granted Remission to Corruption Criminals after it granted to many other Corruption Criminals during Independence Day on 17 August 2011.

The granting of Remission has been criticized by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Rakyat Merdeka quoted Johan Budi of KPK as saying that grating of Remission to Corruption Criminals should be restricted considering that Corruption is an extraordinary crime therefore should not be treated ordinarily.

I hope that in the future the government would not grant anymore Remission to Corruption, Illegal Drug and Terror Criminals, so that they would really learn to obey the laws.

Ba'asyir Jailed for 15 Years.

Yesterday, the Judges of the District Court of South Jakarta have sentenced radical Islamic cleric Abubakar Ba'asyir to 15 years in prison for planning, motivating and collecting funds for military training of radical people in Indonesia.
 
The said Court Verdict was passed based on Articles 7 and 14 of the Terrorism Law No.15 Year 2003.

The question is : Will this end terrorism in Indonesia ?

In my opinion, the prison sentence would have an impact on Ba'asyir's network, however it would not end terrorism. 

Not only because terrorism has grown independently in Indonesia but also because it has many roots here i.e. Poverty, Injustice and Corruption.

As long as there are so many beggars/tramps on the street and so many poor people living in the slum area in many parts of Jakarta and other places in the country, as long as the courts punished big money robbers lighter than petty thieves, as long as education and health are still expensive, as long as bribery is a common practice, as long as politicians, government officials only think about themselves and their parties, there would always be people who would protest  violently/barbarically or even take the laws into their own hands.

Sources :
1)  Bashir Sentenced to 15 Years (The Jakarta Globe)
2)  Baasyir: Indonesia Bela Amerika (Kompas)

Advertising or Terrorizing?

I was very surprised this morning when I read a post on the blog of  Unspun (http://theunspunblog.com) titled: "Coffins delivered to your doorstep: effective viral campaign or bad taste?".

Unspun said that he received a coffin, measuring about a meter in length, delivered by an ambulance to his office. The person delivering it said that there would be an event on June 9th. The coffin was painted brown with the word R.I.P above. Below it was Unspun's name and address. Inside were some flower petals and a rose, with a label attached that read on one side: “You are number: #4444″ and on the other side “www.restinpeacesoon.com.”  But the when he visited the site he found “under construction sign.”

The senders have also been active on Twitter with the handle @restinpeacesoon. They sent Unspun a message “Death is the surest calculation that can be made”
 
Later in the afternoon various TV stations reported that similar coffins were delivered to several mass media like Okezone, Detik.com, Kompas.com, The Jakarta Post, RCTI, SCTV, ANTV etc. And the person behind those coffins delivery was Sumardi MA the boss of Buzz & Co. an advertisement company. The coffins were part of his strategy to launch his book : " Rest In Peace Advertising : The World of Mouth Advertising. "

The Police has raided the office of Buzz & Co, and questioned Sumardi for delivering those coffins.

Considering that Coffin is a symbol of death for normal people and only used when people died, therefore the delivery of those coffins without mentioning the sender's clear identity would surely shock or even scare the recipients.. The impact would be very fatal if the recipient has heart problems.

Photo: Courtesy of Unspun.

After Osama's Death

After US President Barack Obama announced the death of terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden yesterday, the news media reported that almost every one are happy with his death.

Even a radical website in Indonesia seemed to be happy too, only they assumed that Osama's death has been a Syahid Death (killed in a holy war).

However, there were some alarming news about the possibility of Osama's organization Al-Qaeda making efforts to revenge his death.

The Chief of U.S Central Intelligence Agency Leon Panetta warned the world to be on high alert because he believed that Al-Qaeda almost certainly will try to avenge.

While the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Djoko Suyanto said that the government is bracing for possible reactions by local hard-line groups following Osama bin Laden’s death and stepping up security.

I hope that Osama's death would not soften our government's efforts to eliminate any acts of terrors in Indonesia.

The Latest Trial of Abubakar Ba'asyir

Yesterday, the Council of Judges of the South Jakarta District Court rejected the request of the Defendant Abubakar Ba'asyir for exception to charges, therefore allowing the trial of the fanatic cleric to proceed.

During the first session of trial at the Court last February, the prosecutor indicted him of inciting others to commit terrorism, a crime that carries a death penalty. previous trial session.

Ba'asyir denied all links to any extremist activity - he maintains he is a spiritual, religious leader and that he has been unfairly accused. 

He and his lawyers said that the Prosecutors' charges against him were “vague”, “unclear”, “careless” and “incomplete”, and had requested that they be annulled.

During the era of the late President Suharto, Abubakar Ba'asyir was arrested for non-recognition of the Indonesian national ideology Pancasila which promotes religious pluralism, and refusal of his school to salute the Indonesian flag which signified Bashir's refusal to recognise the authority of a secular Indonesian state.

In 1985 Ba'asyir fled to Malaysia where he lived in exile, and returned to Indonesia after Suharto stepped down from power in 1998. 

In 2003, he was charged with treason, immigration violations, and providing false documents and statements to the Police. The charges were related to the 2000 Christmas Eve bombings against Christian churches, which killed 18 people. The Court found him not guilty of treason, but was found guilty on the immigration violations. He was sentenced to three years in prison, but the sentence was reduced to 20 months due to his good behavior in the prison.

In 2004, he was arrested by the Police and charged with involvement in the suicide bombing on the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta on August, 2003, which killed 14 people, and in the 2002 Bali suicide bombing, which killed 202 people. The Court found him guilty of conspiracy over the 2002 suicide bombing, but not guilty of charges surrounding the 2003 suicide bombing. He was sentenced to two and a half years imprisonment, but was later cut by 4 months and 15 days.  And on 14 June 2006, he was released. 

Attacks on the President and the People

 

President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono told reporters today that he just survived a teror plot.

The Jakarta Globe quoted him as saying that today the Police has arrested two terrorists who plan to attack him during a visit to Bandung, West Java.


This news gave me mixed feelings. On the one hand I am very happy that the Police has once again been successful in protecting the President from terrorist attack. 

But on the other hand I am very sad because until this moment the Police has still not been able to find out who's responsible for the series of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Canisters explosions that have killed and injured many innocent people in the last few months.

In my humble opinion, this is weird because LPG Canisters are produced, filled-refilled and distributed legally, therefore should not be so difficult to probe compared to secretive terrorists operations.

I hope that beside protecting the President, the Police would also find out immediately who have attacked the people by producing, filling-refilling, selling low quality and explosive LPG Canisters. After all, according to our Constitution the people is the holder of sovereignty in Indonesia.

Photo: Courtesy of AFP/The Jakarta Globe.

Combating Terrorism

I believe that Terrorism exist because there are certain people who are very frustrated with all the terrible things that have been going on for a very long lime in a society, i.e. Injustices, Corruptions and Poverty.

Therefore, if a society wants to combat Terrorism, the above mentioned causes should also be eradicated, otherwise the end result would not be maximum.

That's what I thought when I read in The Jakarta Globe (below) that President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) has called upon all Indonesians to help the government in combating terrorism.

May 17, 2010  Camelia Pasandaran

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says the aim of Islamists to implement Shariah law was "unacceptable" to the Indonesian people. (Bloomberg Photo/Ian Waldie)

President Hits Out at Terrorists, Says Indonesia Will Never Be Islamic State

In some of his strongest comments against terrorists yet, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday called on all Indonesians to join the government in combating terrorism and their plans to establish an Islamic state governed by Shariah law.

“I call for all Indonesian people to join together in saving the nation, saving our people, saving us all from the terrorism threat and from irresponsible parties that act beyond the limits of humanity,” Yudhoyono said at Halim Perdana Kusuma airport in East Jakarta before leaving for an informal visit to Singapore.

“I also hope that all Indonesian regions, provinces, districts and municipalities, all regional leaders, military and police personnel, and all other parties remain alert and active and to contribute to preventing the development of terrorism in their own areas,” he said. “This is to save our children, our young generation, from being trapped by terrorism crimes.”

The National Police have recently arrested and killed several terrorist suspects in Aceh, Central and West Java, and Jakarta. The police have revealed that the terrorists were planning to assassinate the president and high-ranking officials in a bid to create an Islamic state.

Laying out the evidence and identifying the suspected terrorists arrested or killed since operations began in the mountains of Aceh in February, National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri recently described the plot to attack the Presidential Palace during Independence Day celebrations on Aug. 17.

Yudhoyono, speaking to journalists in offices adjoining the runway, said that several important terrorists had been arrested in the past but when they were released from jail fell back into their terrorist ways.

“What we’re actually facing now is those who have been controlling [the terror movement in Indonesia] for the last ten years ... with some more new members,” he said.

“What is interesting is the target of the terror,” he said. “In the past, they targeted foreigners, but now they are targeting our nation, our country, our government as the main target. They want to build an Islamic state, something that has been finished with in our history.”

Yudhoyono said that though Indonesia was not an Islamic state, Indonesia respected Islam and had adopted its values and aspects of its laws in building the nation.

“But if this group wants to push its intention to change the nation’s ideology, change the Constitution and the nation’s foundation, it is unacceptable for the Indonesian people. They’re against democracy while democracy is the result of reformation.”