Biker Gangs, Terrorists and Law Enforcement

One hot topic that the Indonesian news media has been reporting in the last few weeks is about violence carried out by biker gangs in some parts of the archipelago.

These gangs seems to be very strong that the Police seems to be facing big difficulties in taking action against them. Maybe because there were some strong people who were involved in the gangs' activities, for example in the latest incident the Police arrested four Army soldiers allegedly involved in a string of assault that left one man dead and at least 13 others injured.

The case was totally different when the Police were facing alleged "terrorists", who were reported to be trained and well armed, whereby they always succeeded in killing most of them and arresting some of them.

The above mentioned facts have made me asked the following questions :
Are the biker gangs more powerful than the trained and armed "terrorists" ?
Or, they were only made to look as if they were that strong ?

Photo : Courtesy of Republika

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.

 

Nazaruddin is Not a Hero

One thing I like about today's celebration of Independence Day is that most of the mass media are not reporting about the Nazaruddin case for the time being.

This is good for me because I am beginning to be bored at the behaviors of politicians who tried to build public opinion as if Nazaruddin is a  hero and the law enforcement agency, especially the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is evil.

While actually KPK has named Nazaruddin as Suspect in corruption cases including the misuse of fund for development of athlete building in Palembang, South Sumatera, who ran away to other countries, and was caught by the Interpol in Columbia. who later on hand him over to our law enforcement agencies.

First there was the lawyer OC Kaligis who was very angry because he failed to get asylum for Nazaruddin in Colombia therefore he should be returned to Indonesia. Besides, O.C Kaligis was also angry because he was not allowed to accompany Nazaruddin during the flight from Colombia to Jakarta.

I can understand why he is angry because as a lawyer he has been paid to do his very best to defend his client, but to advise him to take asylum in Colombia (and evade Indonesian laws) ?
However, I agree that Nazaruddin should be accompanied by a lawyer during the 38 hours flight.

Then there was the members of the House of Representatives who forcefully entered the Mobile Brigade Headquarters where Nazaruddin is detained.even though not during visiting hours.
Due his his status a member of the House of Representatives has not been revoked, other member may visit him, but should honor the regulation at the place of detention.

Then there was those politicians who demand that Nazaruddin should be protected by the Witness and Victim Protection Institution, which is unreasonable because Nazaruddin is neither a Witness nor a Victim, but a Suspect. 

Considering the above, I hope that KPK would always treat Nazaruddin according to the laws and regulations.

What's Wrong with the Constitutional Court ?

I used to think that the Constitutional Court is the only state institution that can be relied by the people of Indonesia today.

The Court has made several breakthrough on legal matters which other law institutions in the country seems to be helpless, such as public broadcasting of secret phone conversations between Anggodo Widjojo, who was alleged of bribery and certain high ranking officials of the law enforcement agencies.

Many people have high hopes, that some of them want the Court's Chief i.e. Mahfud MD to run as candidate in the 2014 Presidential election.
 
Lately, the mass media reported about the falsification of a letter issued by the Constitutional Court regarding who's eligible to represent a region in South Sulawesi at the House of Representatives

The Chief of the Constitutional Court Mahfud MD alleged that the former member of the General Elections Committee  i.e. Andi Nurpati, currently Spokesperson of President SBY's ruling Democrat Party was involved in the said falsification. He also alleged that former Judge of the said Court i.e. Arsyad Sanusi was also involved in this case.

These allegations were denied by Andi Nurpati, her Party, and Arsyad Sanusi.

Arsyad even strike back by saying the this case is caused by the disorder in the administration of the Court, caused by Mahfud's lack of experience in working with the Court.

Meanwhile, The Jakarta Globe reported that on 21 June the House of Representatives has amended the Constitutional Court Law No. 24/2003 (here) that will significantly curtail the Court's authorities, including a restriction on issuing verdicts beyond what has been requested of it.

The Jakarta Post reported that the Court should limit its verdicts to declaring whether laws or articles ran counter to the Constitution, he added, and refrain from recommending alternative legislation.  It's Chief and Deputy Chief's office term would be reduced to two years and six months, from three years. And it's Judges must have an undergraduate degree in Law.

I hope that this case would be investigated thoroughly and those responsible to be processed in Court, so that the image of the Constitutional Court can still be maintained.

Corruption Court for every Provinces

In an effort to increase the efforts to eradicate the widespread corruption in Indonesia, the Supreme Court has planned to build one Corruption Court in every province.

Pos Kota quoted the Chief Justice Harifn Tumpa as saying that at present there are already 18 Coruption Courts in 18 provinces, therefore we still need 12-14 more. And he is very optimistic that they will all be ready by the end of this year, because the budged for that is ready.

Considering that there are so many Corruption cases involving local government officers in the provinces, I agree that the existence of Corruption Courts in every provinces would help expedite the handling of Corruption in those provinces.

In order to do that, the said Courts and local law enforcement agencies should be ready, and highly qualified, tough Court Judges and officers, as well as KPK, Prosecutors and Police must also be available.

Frankly speaking, I am not sure that preparations for all that can be completed within a very short time.

The Court Houses maybe ready by the end of this year, but how about highly qualified and tough Court Judges and officers, and law enforcement officers ?

Peace Loving People

Last Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the Java Jazz Festival has been carried out successfully and peacefully at the Jakarta International Expo, Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

According to the event's organizer, around 150,000 people came to watch live performances by world class musicians like Carlos Santana, George Benson, Corine Bailey Rae, George Duke, Bob James, together with many Indonesian jazz musicians like Bubi Chen, Barry Likumahua, etc. The number of audience has increased almost 50% compared to last year's 103,000 people.

Actually the above success in maintaining peaceful events attended by large crowd is not very special for us. Because on 17 February 2011 we have also been successful in organizing an open air rock concert by British rock group Iron Maiden at the Ancol beach resort, North Jakarta attended by around 20,000 people..

Beside that, last December we have also successfully organized several football matches part of the Asean football tournament (AFF-Suzuki Cup) in Jakarta where more than 80,000 people attended per match, even when our national team lose against the champion i.e. the Malaysian team

Considering the above, I believe that the people of Indonesia are peace loving people. I therefore hope that this would make the government and law enforcement agencies more confident in enforcing the laws and never hesitate to take necessary actions against anyone who violates.

That way, Indonesia would be a more peaceful and better place to live for its citizens, and more foreigners would want to come to our country.

MOU for Law Enforcement Agencies.

Many criminal cases in Indonesia has often been handled inappropriately due to lack of coordination among Law Enforcement Agencies.

For example, when the Supreme Court upheld lower Courts verdicts to send Djoko Chandra to jail, the Immigration Office (under Dept of Justice & H.R)  has let him leave the country before the verdict was announced.

The latest one was the Taxman Gayus Tambunan who was able to escape to Singapore before the Police arrest him for involvement in Tax Mafia cases. Thank God the Police was able to take him back.

In order to avoid such disgusting inconveniences, Tempo reported that the Department of Justice and Human Rights, the Attorney General Office and the Police are now preparing a Memorandum of Understanding which will enable them to work in close coordination in the future.

Three Law Enforcement Agencies to Sign MoU
Friday, 02 April, 2010 | 03:08 WIB 
 
TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:Three state agencies will sign an MoU on law enforcement procedures. The Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Patrialis Akbar, said that the initiative was taken given that there are many on violations on the process of law enforcement, such as during investigation to prosecution. “Even the Attorney General was surprised when someone explained to him that 1.900 prisoners have not received copies of their court documents,” he said yesterday.

The MoU was drafted by the Police, the Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Justice and Human Rights to explore the possibility of working together. Patrialis said that he had communicated with the chief executives of each of the agency.

RIKY FERDIANTO

Trafficking of Children

For many years, Indonesia has been plagued by big problems related to the illegal trafficking of children, but only few were exposed to the public.

One of the victim was Erwin, who according to Hukum Online was two months old when an Irish couple Joseph and Lala Dowse brought him to Ireland in 2001, processed adoption, changed his name to Tristan Dowse and arranged Irish nationality for him.
According to Wikipedia, two years later Lala got pregnant, so the couple sent Tristan back to the orphanage in Jakarta where they have adopted him, saying that the adoption didn't work.
The Indonesian Department of Social reacted by claiming that the adoption was illegal, which was denied by the Irish Adoption Board.
In 2006, an Irish court ordered the Dowses to pay an immediate lump sum of €20,000 to Tristan, maintenance of €350 per month until he is 18 years of age, and a further lump sum of €25,000 when he reaches the age of 18. In addition, Tristan would remain an Irish citizen and enjoy all the rights to the Dowses’ estate, and Tristan’s mother Suryani was appointed his sole legal guardian.

What happened to Erwin=Tristan is actually not so bad compared to many thousand others whose faith were uncertain. According to The Jakarta Globe, Local and international groups have estimated that more than 100,000 Indonesian women and children are trafficked annually for commercial sex exploitation, to foreign countries, including Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

In order to prevent Trafficking of Women & Children to foreign countries, nine years ago, our government has signed the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crimes, which was ratified by the parliament (DPR) last December. Further, on Tuesday the DPR ratified the UN Protocol Againts Human Trafficking.

As a conclussion, I felt that now that we have our national laws and the above UN Conventions, the law enforcement would have no more problem to protect our Children from becoming victims of human trafficking, and to take actions against any violators.

Tommy's Cases

Yesterday afternoon, I drank Coffee with two lawyer friends i.e. Liza and Stephanie, at Starbuck, Kelapa Gading. After talking about a case that we handled together, we talked about the news in The Jakarta Post regarding the Verdict of the High Court in London, England, that favored Tommy in a dispute with the Indonesian government over 36 million Euros in overseas bank savings.

Here is an extract of our conversation:
"Tommy is an Invisible Man" Liza said.
“Why do you say that?” I asked
“Our law enforcement agencies cannot nail him” Liza said
“Well he had served some time in prison” Stephanie said
“But he escaped for one year, return to prison for a while and released soon after, no punishment for his escape” Liza said.
“He should be prosecuted for evading justice” Stephanie said.
“Yeah, but the prosecutor tends to pursue charges that lacks adequate preparations, smart tactic, and strong evidence like murder of judge, graft. Even if they are successful in the lower level courts, however they will fail at the Supreme Court” I said. “That’s why the lawyers often outsmart the prosecutors” Liza said. “Just like the above London case, if our Attorney General Office (AGO) have hired Top Lawyers who mastered the British Legal system, the result of court proceedings would have been different” Stephanie said.
“There is still a possibility to request for judicial review of the London Court Verdict that is by filing an appeal with the British Supreme Court (Privy Council). For which purpose the AGO should hire a Top Lawyer so that proper preparation can be made”. Liza said.

We concluded that the AGO should make proper preparations for every prosecutions by obtaining strong evidence, hire Top Legal Experts if necessary, and carefully decide the legal basis for their actions.

Billy Sindoro & Lippo

During the trial at the Corruption Court (Pengadilan Tipikor) on Monday 12 January, two witnesses have revealed that Billy Sindoro is part of the Lippo Group.

According to The Jakarta Post the Chief Executive Officer of PT Direct Vision Nelia Concapcion Molato has testified that Billy did not have a structural position in the company but he is representative of the Lippo Group who interviewed her to be CEO and she always reported the company’s financial information to him. She said that Lippo and Astro were shareholders of PT Direct Vision in 2005. That year, both companies signed an agreement requiring Astro to provide broadcasting programs to PT Direct Vision, including the English Premier League, in return Lippo would give Astro a 51% share of PT. Direct Vision.
Later, PT Indonusa Telemedia, PT Indosat Mega Media and PT Media Nusantara Citra Sky Vision filed a complaint with the KPPU over the alleged monopoly held by PT Direct Vision over the rights to broadcast English Premier League soccer matches.
In this regards, the IT Manager of PT Lippo E-net Benedict Sulaiman confirmed that Billy was a senior official in Lippo Group. He also said that made the reservation on Sept. 16, 2008 at Aryaduta Hotel, Jakarta, where Billy and a member of the Commission for the Supervision of Business Competition (KPPU) Muhammad Iqbal were arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). At that time Billy gave Iqbal a black bag containing Rp 500 million after the KPPU ruled in favor of Direct Vision in a dispute over the rights to broadcast English soccer matches.

Considering that Billy Sindoro conducted the bribery as a representative of the Lippo Group, therefore the latter should be the (Main) Defendant in the case, and the former merely an accomplice.

Underage Prostitution

This morning I read a shocking news in Detik about the expulsion of 18 female students of a Junior High School ( SMP ) located in West Jakarta for alleged Prostitution practice.

Although the news did not mention about their age, but generally the age of Junior High School students would range from 12 to 16 years old, thus obviously under aged to make any money, and certainly not by selling their bodies.
According to the Head of the Jakarta Education Agency Taufik Yudi, those girls were not expelled but they resigned voluntarily from the school because they have now realized that they have made mistakes. They will be sent to the Center for Community Study Activity (PKBM), where they will be given formal social education under the guidance of the Jakarta Education Agency, and will receive a Junior High School diploma.
Further, Taufik said that this case has been known by his agency, the school and the Department of Education since November 2008. He also said that those students were only victims of Pimps (Sex Mediator) and Sex Seekers, whereby they were lured to sell their bodies in exchange for money. Therefore, those Pimps and Sex Seekers should be arrested. He hopes that the change of school entry time to 6.30 would bring improvement to the Moral, Ethics, and Religious belief of the students.

In view of the above, I think that focusing attention on how to improve the morality of the students would only temporarily stop Underage Prostitution practice. As long as there are Pimps and Sex Seekers who will make use of them, such practice will always exist.

Accusation against ICW

" Your Mouth is Your Tiger! "
That's an addage which imply that people should be very careful whenever they talk, otherwise they might get themselves into trouble.

This addage is perhaps suitable to describe about the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) which was reported by the Attorney General Office (AGO) to the National Police Headquarters last Wednesday for committing an Act of Defamation against the AGO.
According to The Jakarta Globe, the said report was made following a news in last Monday edition of Rakyat Merdeka tabloid in which two ICW members: Emerson Yuntho & Illian Deta Arta Sari claimed that Prosecutors of the AGO have embezzled state funds recovered from Corruption cases investigated for the last four years. However, Emerson denied having accused the AGO of misusing the funds, he said that he only questionned the difference between the amount claimed by the AGO: Rp 8 Trillion, and the amount reported by the State Audit Agency (BPK): RP 382.67 Billion.

Meanwhile, Kompas reported that the AGO's report to the Police has been critized by the Coordinator of the Indonesian Anti Corruption Community (MAKI) Boyamin S. who said that as a state institution the AGO should be protecting people instead of taking action against people who critized it. Further, a member of Parliament (DPR) Gayus Lumbuun said according to the Criminal Prosedural Law (KUHAP) Article 220, Prosecutors and Judges cannot handle law cases in which they are involved as one of the conflicting parties. Therefore, if the report against ICW is followed by next step i.e Prosecution, then there is no Prosecutor who is eligible to do that.
In reaction to the above criticism, Attorney Generan Hendarman Supanji said that the AGO is not alergic to criticism, but in this case they are only using their right to defend themselves against allegation.

This is an interesting case, on the one hand it would serve as a lesson for the people in general, and ICW in particular, to be very extra careful when making a public statement. On the other hand, it would serve as a warning to state officials to do their job properly because their actions are closely monitored by the public. That way, wrong doings can be prevented or at least minimized.

Image:AnimationLibrary

The Aging Supreme Judges

According to our country's legal system, the Supreme Court is the highest Court of Law, therefore last resort to obtain ordinary legal remedy for any disputes, in Indonesia. As such the Supreme Judges should consists of highly respectable persons whose seniority & quality are above average Indonesians.

Perhaps that's the reason why the Government & the Parliament (DPR) have insisted on extending the retirement age of the Supreme Judges from 67 to 70 years old, in spite of public protests that the life expectancy of average Indonesians is only around 65 years old.

However, it seems that things does not always work out the way one wants them to be.
That's what I thought when I read the news about the collapse of Vice Chairman of the Supreme Court Harifin A. Tumpa (66) when he inaugurated six new Supreme Judges and five new Head of High Courts on 30 December 2008.
In this regards, The Jakarta Post quoted Illean D.A Sari of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) as saying that the health of a Supreme Judge will have a strong effect on the upholding of justice. She said that people at the age of more than 65 are prone to illness and would effect the handling of cases at the Supreme Court. Whereas a Political Expert of University of Indonesia Lili Romli questioned the purpose of extending the age of the Supreme Judges. He suspected a Hidden Agenda behind this decision.

Due to the above unfortunate fact, I sincerely hope that although Supreme Judges can hold their job until they are 70 years old, however in order to safeguard the smooth processing of Cassation cases, it would be better if the Candidates Supreme Judges would be much younger.

Image:AnimationLibrary

The Munir Murder Case

House of Justice painted Green.
Money Talking!
That's the beginning of the song titled And Justice For All by Metallica, which implies that the Court of Law cannot provide Justice because of bribery practices.

I am not sure whether that's what crossed the minds of those who protested against the Verdict of the District Court of South Jakarta last Wednesday, 31 December 2008, which freed former Deputy Chief of the State Intelligence Board (BIN) Muchdi Pr from charges of murder of human rights activist Munir in 2004. But one thing for sure is that lately the mass media has been reporting very frequently about the Verdict, as follows:
Kompas wrote that the Council of Judges of said Court make the decision because there is no evidence which prove that Muchdi Pr is responsible for the murder.
While Okezone quoted Munir's wife Suciwati as saying that Muchdi and former BIN Chief Hendroprijono are involved in the murder, together with Polycarpus who has been found guilty by the Supreme Court. Therefore she urged anyone who knew any information regarding these three persons to contact her. And the Committee for the Solidarity of Munir (Kasum) urged the Attorney General Office to file Cassation against the said Verdict with the Supreme Court, and will request the Judicial Commission to analyze the Verdict.
According to The Jakarta Globe, the Judicial Commission will meet to discuss about the Verdict next Monday. Whereas the Attorney General Office is preparing to file a Cassation against the Verdict with the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Tempo wrote that President SBY will study the Verdict, and shall discuss it with the Head of National Police and the Attorney General afterwards.

In view of the above, it would be best if the Law Enforcement agencies i.e the Police, the Attorney General Office, as well as the Judicial Committee and the Court to review this case once again, so that Justice will Prevail.

Image:Animation Library

The Supreme Court Law

The Life Expectancy of an Average Indonesian person has increased from 65 to 70 years old!
That’s what I thought when I heard that our Parliament: the People’s Representative Council (DPR) last Thursday passed the Amendment of the Supreme Court Law No.5 Year 2004, raising the age of a Supreme Judge from 67 to 70 years old.

However, in stead of being happy I felt very sad about the increase in age of those Judges, because it means that younger Judges would be obstructed from becoming a Supreme Judge, and the Supreme Court would be dominated by Old Men and Women, therefore their performance would not improve: slow processing of Cassation cases, long pending Cassation cases, lack of transparency, etc.
Unsurprisingly, my thoughts are shared by Politicians, the Indonesian Corruption Watch and Law Academicians. In this case, Kompas, Tempo, Suara Merdeka, quoted them as saying that the DPR’s decision to pass said Law has not been carried out according to DPR’s own regulation, i.e., only 63 of the 500 members attended the meeting session, and two Political parties do not agree with the increase of age, they said that the maximum age should either be 65 or 67 years old. Further they demand the passing of said Law should await the passing of the Law regarding the Judicial Commission Law which is still being processed.

Now that that the glass of milk has fell down to the floor, there is no use to worry about the spilled milk. The best thing that we can do is to monitor how those Supreme Judges perform within a sufficient period of time, let's say 12 months. If they do not show any improvement, then we can start to voice our protests once again.

Pic:Metallica

Fake Money

Last night the TV channel MNC News reported about the arrest by the Police of a Village Chief for having possession of Fake Indonesian Money i.e. 9 bills of Rp. 100.000,- that looks almost the same as the original ones.

This news reminds me of another news that I have read on Detik last Thursday about a Court Trial in 2005 of 5 agents of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) for their involvement in a Fake Money Case. The interesting thing was that the Crime was lead by the former Chief Executive BIN's Coordinating Board for the Elimination of Fake Money i.e Brigadier General (Ret.) Zyaeri who lead 4 of his subordinates to produce 2,267 bills of Fake Money each amounting to Rp 100.000,-.
Actually circulation of Fake Money could be traced from 2000, and become more often before the 2004 general election. And as we are approaching the 2009 election, Fake Money become news again.

The above news makes me wonder whether or not there is a connection between the production and circulation of Fake Money and the General Election. But one thing for sure is that if not eliminated those Fake Money will cause great fear among our people on the overall condition of our country.

Pic:Detik

Court Verdict via Facebook

Since it was launched in 2004, Facebook has grown into a very popular online hangout, attracting more than 140 million users around the world. And usually, members would use Facebook to "poke" or "superpoke" each other - terms for giving someone a playful nudge.

Currently, Facebook has been used for conveying business messages, and even a Court Verdict/decision. In this regards, The Jakarta Post reported that the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court last Friday approved Lawyer Mark McCormack's application to use Facebook to serve the legally binding documents after several failed attempts to contact the couple at the house an by e-mail.

It is really good to hear about the above decision of the Australian Court which has acknowledged Facebook as a legitimate method to convey important notification. This will facilitate the convey of messages to disputing parties in the court of law which are often very difficult. Let us hope that one day, Courts in Indonesia would be willing adopt such kind of method.

Pic:FreeFoto

Marcella & Ananda

Movie actress/producer Marcella Zalianty and Car Racer Ananda Nikola have been detained by the Central Jakarta Police for their alleged Kidnap & Torture of Architect Agung Setiawan. While the Central Jakarta Police is focusing on the investigation of this Criminal Case, a lot of efforts have been made by certain people to distract the attention of the Police as well as the public on the essence of this case.
First, there was the statements made by people related to both celebrities, for example former racers and businessmen Tommy Soeharto and Alex Asmasoebrata who urged that attention should not merely be focused on the actions that have been made on Agung, but also on what has caused such actions. Alex said that Agung has a very bad reputation of evading debts, in order to prove his words Alex made a press conference with Agung’s alleged victims in Jogyakarta. In their reaction, Agung’s attorneys i.e Partahi Sihombing and friends have demanded Alex to apologize to Agung for saying those words, but was refused by Alex.
In another development, Telematic Expert i.e. Roy Suryo revealed to the press the result of his findings on the phone photos of the Torture, which according to Roy the Police has asked for his advice. This has outraged the attorneys of Marcella i.e. Manola Sibayang, who said that revelation of an evidence during an investigation can only be made in the Court of Law, not in public.
This is very strange, because the Kidnap & Torture Crimes that have been accused on Marcella and Ananda are very serious Crimes according to our Penal Code (KUHP), as such their investigations should be concentrated on the case. Even if Agung is really a very bad guy who frequently evade debts, there is no reason to Kidnap & Torture him brutally. Due to which fact the mass media should not be fooled by any efforts to distract the essence of this case. No one should be tolerated to take the law into their own hands! Especially when persons who love to look for sensations like Roy Suryo and attorneys are involved. Beside exposing Roy's findings, the media should also point out that because Roy's access to the photos is based on the Police request for advice on this investigation, therefore he can only reveal his findings to the Police and in Court trial.

Pics:Detik

The Asrori Murder

The Court of Law has often been dubbed as the House Justice i.e place where people could expect that the Law would be upheld, therefore Justice would always prevail.

However, Judges of the Court are normal human beings who can make mistakes like any other human beings. The difference is that if Judges make mistake in a judgement re: Criminal Case, the Defendants concerned would suffer very greatly! They have to be Jailed and/or Fined and lose face in the eyes of the public for a Crime they never commit. Besides, their family would also share their suffering! It is for those reasons that our Penal Code(KUHP) Article 1.1 adopted the Nullum Delictum principle i.e a Person can be Punished for his/her Action if there is an existing Law which stipulates that such Action is a Crime. Besides, our Criminal Prosedural Law (KUHAP) strictly limited the Evidences that would be acceptable to support Criminal Prosecutions in Court.
But then again, Judges are only Human Beings! That's what we can say when the mass media reported that the Council of Judges of the District Court of Jember has mistakenly last May when they sentenced Imam Hambali and David Eko to 17 and 12 years in Jail respectively for the murder of a man called Asrori on September 2007. Later, DNA tests revealed that the victim is not Asrori, but Fauzin Suyanto. Due to this finding, on 3 December 2008, the Supreme Court overturned the District Court's Verdict, acquitted Imam & David and ordered them to be release.
In this connection, Jakarta Globe wrote today that the National Police has admitted that they have made the mistake, due to which the East Java Police has questioned 15 Police officers related to this case. But the National Police Spokeman Abubakar Nataprawira said that they will not apologize for it.

In view of the above, I felt that every Judges of the Courts of Law should always be very carefull in considering and deciding every cases they handled, so as to avoid any mistake, that way Justice shall always Prevail!

Pic:CopyrightFreePhotos

The Notorious Preman

For so many years, people in various cities of Indonesia have been victimized by other people who collect money illegally. These people are popularly known as Preman, and would do anything, like extortion, burglary, drug trafficking and even murder, to get what they want.

The word Preman itself is a contraction of the words: Free (pronounced as Pre) and Man. The number of these "Free Man" grew very rapidly during economic crisis which has boosts the number of unemployment. As an example I have 2 friends who have been forced to deal with Preman. The first one is Indra who paid Rp 100.000,- to a gang of Preman for every trucks that carry construction material for the house he is building in Bekasi. The second is Joni who has to pay Rp 1.000.000,- to local Preman every month for safety money so that they would not disturb his restaurant in Tangerang. Actually both friends already paid official security fee to the local Village Authority, however they paid money to the Preman for security reassurance. These are only two examples of the unofficial role that the Preman played in our day to day life.
Considering this fact, efforts have been made by the government to eliminate Preman.
During the Soeharto era, the state security agency launched an undercover operation to eliminate Preman by hunting & killing them mysteriously. Due to strong protests from foreign countries and human right organizations, the Operation was stopped.
And recently, the new Chief of National Police: General Bambang Danuri on 2 November 2008 instructed the Police in Jakarta, Central Java, East Java, Yogjakarta and North Sumatera to carry out an operation to eliminate those Preman, so that Peace and Order could be established in those provinces. Lately, this operation has also been conducted in other provinces.
According to General Danuri, as quoted by Waspada, the objective of this operation is not only to arrest the Preman but also to guide them to normal life when they returned to society. And this program is successful, those Preman would become productive persons therefore they would not be a social problem anymore.

As a short term objective, the Anti Preman Operation can be accepted for eliminating Preman. However, for a long term objective, the government should make efforts to avoid the 'creation' of Preman, e.g by providing job opportunities & eliminating corruption among civil servants For which purpose a conducive business condition should be established.

Image:DreamsTime