April 12, 2012
The Constitutional Court has rejected a motion by firebrand Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir to have several articles of the Criminal Procedures Code repealed.
The court ruled that Article 21.1 and Article 95.1 of the code, known as Kuhap, do not violate the Constitution.
Article 21.1 gives the police the authority to extend a suspect’s detention if there is a flight risk or a risk to evidence if the suspect is released. But Bashir had argued that the law could be used by the police to arbitrarily arrest people and keep them in detention without proper grounds.
“We have rejected a similar motion against Article 21.1 before so we don’t have to review it again,” presiding judge Hamdan Zoelva said.
Article 95.1 deals with compensation for people mistakenly arrested or detained.
The cleric had said that it was not clear who decided whether an arrest or detention had proper legal basis, creating legal uncertainty for society as a whole.
“We think the article is not against the Constitution. Therefore, we reject Bashir’s motion,” Hamdan said.
Bashir had protested the police move to extend his detention before he was tried last year, afterwards filing a review against the 1981 law.
The cleric, who has been referred to as the father of Indonesian militant Islam and was found guilty of financially supporting the training of a militant group in Aceh, was sentenced to 15 years in prison late last year.
The Supreme Court upheld that sentence last month but Bashir has said he will file a case review against the verdict.
The militants at the Aceh training camp were allegedly planning deadly Mumbai-style terrorist attacks on Westerners and politicians before they were raided by police in early 2010.
( also x the JG)
do 12 apr 2012 - 19:07