M. Rizal Maslan, Jakarta – Many defendants in gross human right violation cases being handled by the Attorney Generals’ Office are released from indictments. This situation refects a failure on the part of the Attorney General in prosecuting the perpetrators.

Examples of this are the defendants suspected of involvement in the East Timor, Tanjung Priok and other cases. These failures add weight to criticisms about the Attorney General’s handling of these cases.

“The public believes that there is a lack of seriousness on the part of the Attorney General,” said Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) Research Director Zainal Abidin at the YLBHI offices on Jl Diponegoro No. 74 in the Menteng area of Central Jakarta on Monday April 7.

Abidin believes that that the Attorney General’s Office as an institution is neither sincere nor serious about handing human rights cases. “This lack of seriousness can be seen from a number of factors. Including the weakness of indictments, the minimal evidence presented and the lack of perseverance on the part of ad hoc public prosecutors in handling gross human rights violation case”, he said.

The Attorney General has also failed to prosecute other past gross human rights violations such as the Abepura case in 2000. “What is more, one of the public prosecutors even submitted a petition for the release of one of the defendants,” added Abidin. It for this reason therefore, that YLBHI is calling on the Attorney General to conduct a thorough review of the procedures for handling gross human violation cases. (zal/ary)

[Translated by James Balowski.]