Jakarta -- Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo has denied accusations that law enforcement officials are using the makar (treason, sedition, subversion, rebellion) article like a “fire sale” (obral). Prasetyo believes that the use of the makar article in several recent cases are in accordance with the facts.
“There hasn’t been any overuse. Up until now [the makar articles] have never been used, only now are they being used because the facts do indeed require it. If they were being used like a fire sale we’d be trying cases like this every day”, Prasetyo told journalists at the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) as quoted by the official AGO Twitter account on Friday May 17.
The view that the makar article is being used indiscriminately has emerged he said because it has occurred during an election cycle, referring to the April 17 presidential and legislative elections. Prasetyo emphasised that the term obral is inaccurate because it is not being used on a mass scale.
“Just because it coincides with a political year there are those who accuse [the government] of politicising [the article], of criminalisation, no”, he said.
A number of government opposition figures have been reported to police and almost all of them have been reported for makar.
They include, among others, lawyer come Islamic activist Eggi Sudjana, retired Major General retired Kivlan Zen and Greater Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and a well-known psychic Permadi.
The other person who has been arrested under the article is HS, a man who threatened to behead President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo in a video which went viral on the internet.
Prasetyo absolutely insists that there are good grounds for using the makar article against these people. In the case of HS for example, he referred to Article 104 of the Criminal Code (KUHP) which covers the makar article. “It’s all based on and derives from evidence that exists”, he said.
The use of the makar article by law enforcement officials in a number of recent cases has been strongly criticised by a number of parties. One of them is Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) Program Director Erasmus Napitupulu.
Napitupulu says that the offence of makar cannot stand solely by itself because it has two elements: treason and the intent to kill, usurp democracy or negate the capacity of the president or vice president to govern.
Meanwhile the makar stipulations contained in Article 87 of the KUHP state that there are two prerequisites for makar, namely intent and an initial implementation.
In the case of HS, Napitupulu is of the view that the initial implementation of the intent to kill the president has yet to be demonstrated.
“Saying or even threatening to kill the president may well represent a criminal offence, but it can’t yet be declared as the crime of makar”, said Napitupulu on Wednesday May 15. (bin/pmg)
Notes
Police investigators are currently studying a police report of alleged treason against several prominent figures including National Mandate Party (PAN) leader Amien Rais, fugitive Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) leader Rizieq Shihab, hardline cleric Bachtiar Nasir and lawyer come Islamic activist Eggi Sudjana. All four were reported in relation to alleged calls to mobilise “people’s power” against the government by supporters of presidential hopeful Prabowo Subianto if the result of the April 17 simultaneous prudential and legislative elections, which the General Elections Commission (KPU) is due to announce on May 22, are not in his favor.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Jaksa Agung: Pasal Makar Tak Ada yang Diobral”.]
