Syakirun Ni'am, Danu Damarjati, Jakarta – The Civil Society Coalition for Security Sector Reform is urging Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander General Agus Subianto to revoke the order instructing soldiers to guard prosecutors' offices throughout Indonesia because there is no strong legal basis for this.
"We consider that the bilateral cooperation framework between the TNI and the prosecutor's office does not have strong legal grounds to be the basis for deploying troops at prosecutor's offices", said a member of the coalition, Amnesty International Indonesia Executive Director Usman Hamid, when speaking to reporters on Sunday May 11.
He said the policy was a form of military intervention in civilian areas, especially law enforcement. "We urge the TNI Commander to revoke the written order and restore the TNI's role in the defence sector", said Hamid.
According to Hamid, the order contradicts the Constitution, the state defence law, the prosecutor's law, the TNI law and the judicial authority law, as well as the main functions of the TNI.
Hamid explained that TNI soldiers should focus on carrying out their duties in the defence area instead of entering into law enforcement duties. On the other hand, currently there is no basis for military operations other than war (OMSP) regarding how this security is carried out.
Hamid warned that the law enforcement duties of the prosecutor's office should not be mixed with the TNI's function in maintaining defence. The presence of the TNI in guarding prosecutor's offices is also considered to affect the independence of law enforcement in Indonesia.
"This situation causes chaos in the existing state system by mixing law enforcement and defence functions", said Hamid.
Earlier, the TNI Commander issued an order for soldiers to guard High Prosecutor's Offices and District Prosecutor's Offices throughout Indonesia. This order was contained in a TNI Commander Telegram Number TR/442/2025 dated May 6, 2025.
The cooperation between the TNI and the prosecutor's office was confirmed by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) Legal Information Centre (Kapuspenkum) head Harli Siregar.
"Yes, that's right, there is security being carried out by the TNI for prosecutor's offices down to the regions (in the regions it is being processed), this security is a form of cooperation between the TNI and the prosecutor's office", said Siregar when sought for confirmation by Kompas.com.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Usman Hamid: Kerja Sama TNI-Kejagung Tak Berdasar Hukum Kuat".]