September 04, 2011
To most Indonesians in legal trouble, the perfect partner in staying hidden from the reach of the law seems to be their spouse.
High-profile graft suspect Muhammad Nazaruddin’s silence on the whereabouts of his wife and fellow suspect, Neneng Sri Wahyuni, is now reminding the public of the same matrimonial loyalty displayed by lawmaker Adang Daradjatun.
The former National Police deputy chief and legislator for the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) has also doggedly refused to reveal the location of his wife, Nunun Nurbaeti. She is a suspect in the massive bribery case surrounding the appointment of Miranda Goeltom as a senior deputy governor of Bank Indonesia.
But while these spouses have been allowed to remain loyal to their partners, the law was not as understanding for a pregnant 21-year-old woman found in the Solo house where Southeast Asia’s most-wanted terrorist, Noordin M. Top, was killed in 2009.
Putri Munawaroh was the only survivor of the police raid on her rented house that killed Noordin, two other militants and her husband, Adib Susilo.
She maintained during her trial that she had no idea who the three men were, saying she dutifully accepted them as her husband’s guests. “As a wife, I didn’t ask more questions, because in my religion the husband’s guests are not my business,” she said.
But for fulfilling her wifely duties and apparently harboring terrorists, she was sentenced to three years in prison.
By contrast, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has repeatedly played down calls for Adang to be charged with obstruction of justice for refusing to divulge Nunun’s location.
In the latest example, Adang told reporters on Friday that he received an Idul Fitri greeting via text message from his wife.
However, he refused to give reporters the phone number used to send the message, which could reveal the country in which Nunun was hiding.
KPK spokesman Johan Budi says the refusal to divulge Nunun’s whereabouts does not amount to a crime.
“The 2009 Anti-Corruption Law states that a person may be charged with disrupting an investigation, but that doesn’t apply in the event that they refuse to tell us a suspect’s whereabouts,” he said.
The crux of the issue lies in the variety of laws used against the suspects.
Mudzakir, a criminologist from the Indonesian Islamic University, said an article in the Criminal Code protected the rights of spouses and family members, so that they are forced to disclose such information.
“It is a general norm that family members protect each other,” Mudzakir said.
“Besides, what Adang did was not obstruction of justice since he did not actively prevent law enforcers from getting to Nunun.”
On the other hand, Yhodhisman Soratha from the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) explained that an article in the 2003 Anti-Terrorism Law allows for multiple interpretations. This makes possible the conviction of family members of a terrorist, he said.
“Articles 13 and 22 prohibit giving aid or access to a terrorist, by giving or lending money or material [support] ... hiding them [or] hiding information,” Yhodhisman said.
Muhammad Mustofa, a criminologist from the University of Indonesia, said the public fear of terrorism is larger than that of corruption, because of the serious physical damage the former can cause.
“Even though corruption has more or less the same devastating effect in the longer term, terrorism is more scary,” he said.
Regardless of the legal possibilities, Firdaus Ilyas, an official at Indonesia Corruption Watch, said it should not be a problem if family members refused to reveal the whereabouts of suspects.
“Of course the KPK can find ways to ‘force’ Nunun’s husband to give up information,” he said.
He added, however, that he found it hard to believe that law enforcers would be at their wits’ end only because family members of a graft fugitive were keeping silent.
( x the JG)
zo 4 sep 2011 - 2:07