Dayat, Jakarta – The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) is urging the National Police (Polri) Criminal Investigations Directorate (Bareskrim) to reveal all parties involved in the alleged illegal wiretapping of President Prabowo Subianto and a number of other parties.
Investigations are requested not only to target those carrying out the operation, but also those who designed, ordered, approved and financed the wiretapping.
This call arose after a case of illegal wiretapping via the legal interception management system (LIMS) implicated the names of former National Police Chief Retired General Listyo Sigit Prabowo and a number of high-ranking police officials.
YLBHI Chairperson Muhammad Isnur has condemned the alleged wiretapping practice. According to Isnur, if the allegations are proven to be true, this case has the potential to become a serious scandal within Indonesian law enforcement institutions.
Isnur emphasised that Bareskrim must reveal the parties behind the operation, starting from determining the target of the wiretapping, who gave the order, the party who gave approval, the provider of the facilities and budget to the implementers in the field.
"If this is true, the YLBHI strongly condemns this incident. This is a huge scandal in law enforcement institutions. Therefore, the YLBHI is urging that it be exposed, who was targeted, not only the president, but also NGO activists, and so on. We suspect there are serious violations here", said Isnur on Tuesday November 3.
According to Isnur, the alleged wiretapping not only targeted President Prabowo, but also activists from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and a number of other parties. This situation is considered to indicate the need for a thorough investigation to determine whether or not there was abuse of authority by the authorities.
The YLBHI also asking that case handling not be limited to alleged violations of internal police regulations. Isnur believes that investigators must investigate possible criminal acts based on provisions in the Criminal Code (KUHP).
In addition to this, the YLBHI is asking Bareskrim to handle the case seriously and not be selective. The involvement of external supervisory institutions is also considered important to ensure that the investigation process is independent, transparent and accountable to the public.
Apart from investigating the case involving Listyo Sigit Prabowo, the YLBHI is encouraging the government and House of Representatives (DPR) to follow up on the mandate of the Constitutional Court (MK) decision regarding the formation of a law on wiretapping.
According to the YLBHI, special regulations are needed to provide legal certainty as well as regulate the limits of authority of state officials and institutions in conducting wiretapping.
The existence of a wiretapping law is also considered important to prevent abuse of authority. These regulations are expected to strictly regulate the legal basis, monitoring mechanisms and limits on the implementation of wiretapping so that it can be accounted for.
Isnur also invited all elements of the state, starting from the government, the DPR, the Supreme Court, the Constitutional Court to civil society, to supervise the reform process within the National Police.
The YLBHI hopes that investigating allegations of illegal wiretapping will become a momentum to strengthen the accountability of police institutions. Law enforcement, according to the YLBHI, must operate in accordance with the principles of democracy, protection of human rights and legal certainty.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "YLBHI Desak Bareskrim Ungkap Dalang Penyadapan Presiden Prabowo".]
