Lani Diana Wijaya, Maudey K. Setyakusuma, Jakarta – Criminal sanctions will be imposed towards the violators of health protocols in Jakarta. This is currently being discussed in the revision of Jakarta Regional Regulation No. 2 of 2020 regarding Covid-19 Response.
Head of the Regional Regulation Formation Agency (Bapemperda) of the Jakarta DPRD, Pantas Nainggolan, said that the imposition of criminal sanctions towards the violators of health protocols will be in accordance with criminal law procedures.
"The procedure will be more or less criminal procedural law, for example minor crime (tipiring), such as traffic violations," he said at the Jakarta DPRD Building, Central Jakarta, Wednesday, July 21, 2021.
The Jakarta government proposes a revision of Regional Regulation (Perda) 2/2020 considering the increasing number of Covid-19 positive and death cases. The current Perda 2/2020 is considered not effective to stricten public's health protocols.
The draft revised regional regulation contains two new articles. The two articles regulate the investigation authority for civil servants and the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) as well as criminal sanctions for violators who repeat mistakes. The DPRD is currently discussing the proposed revision.
Criminal procedure law means that the case will be brought to trial. In the revised draft of Perda 2/2020, civil servant investigators or Satpol PP need to notify the police of the start of the investigation. The results of the investigation were also submitted to the police and the District Court.
The Police will later decide whether or not the case is determined as a criminal offense, referring to the revised Regional Regulation.
"The sanction can be a fine or the alternative is imprisonment," said the PDIP politician.
The revision of Perda 2/2020 will expand health protocol violation types. The Jakarta Government has added criminal sanctions in the form of imprisonment or fines for repeat offenders. This sanction will be applied to individuals, offices, and other business actors.