‘Major step backwards’
> Indonesia makes criticising politicians a crime
JAKARTA: Indonesians could be jailed for criticising national politicians under a new law which came into force yesterday, in what critics slammed as a major step back for the world’s third-biggest democracy.
The vaguely worded bill passed the 560-member house last month but has just become official, over the objections of President Joko Widodo who refused to sign off on the controversial legislation.
Widodo does not have veto power over the bill, although it can be challenged at the Constitutional Court.
The so-called MD3 law opens to the door to pressing charges against anyone who “disrespects parliament or its members” but does not set out possible minimum or maximum jail terms.
Protesters across the archipelago who blasted the bill could potentially see themselves jailed for such demonstrations in the future, critics said.
“How does the law define disrespect?” asked Sebastian Salang of the monitoring group Indonesian Parliament Watchdog.
“It is not clearly explained and could be loosely interpreted as long as it fits the lawmakers’ interest to silence critics.”
Hundreds of protesters staged a rally outside the Constitutional Court in Jakarta yesterday, calling on it to revoke the law.
A spokesman for the court said it had already received three petitions challenging the law, but it could take months before it renders a decision.
Any investigation of a parliamentarian would have to be approved by the House Ethics Council under the new law, which could block probes by the powerful Corruption Eradication Commission.
Some observers say the new law would criminalise criticism of the endemic corruption and poor performance among some members of the political system.
At least eight lawmakers have been arrested for corruption in recent years, including former house speaker Setya Novanto who is on trial in one of the country’s biggest-ever graft scandals.
Indonesia is also battling a wave of fake news and online hate speech ahead of presidential elections in 2019, as a string of arrests underscore fears it could crack open social and religious fault lines.
Police have rounded up members of the Muslim Cyber Army, a cluster of loosely connected groups accused of using Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to attack the government and stoke religious extremism.
Gatot Eddy Pramono, the national police’s head of social affairs, has said the group wants to destabilise the government and “create social conflict”.
Last month, the communications ministry announced it is deploying new software to identify fake news websites, while Widodo – who has battled false claims that he is a communist – inaugurated a new cyber security agency in January. – AFP