Jakarta – The Advocacy Team for Democracy (TAUD) says that the naming of 14 people as suspects, which is part of the investigation related to the May Day demonstration in front of the parliament building on May 1, is a form of criminalisation.
"We all know that by continuing this case, this is a form of criminalisation, a form of narrowing civil space for people who are holding demonstrations", TAUD representative A Belly Stanio told journalists on Tuesday June 3.
Stanio said that they are asking for a postponement of the questioning of the suspects at the Metro Jaya Regional Police (Polda Metro Jaya). Moreover they even asked for the case to be stopped and an Order to Terminate Investigation (SP3) be issued.
Stanio said however that the request was ignored. Instead, the police called the suspects back for questioning today. "We also regret, the Advocacy Team for Democracy, that the Polda Metro Jaya is more inclined to continue this case, where today it was continued with a second summons", he said.
The Metro Jaya Regional Police have named 14 people suspects who were arrested at the May Day demonstration in front of the parliament building on May 1. Among the 14 suspects are the founders of Ethical Hacker Indonesia, Teguh Aprianto and University of Indonesia (UI) student Cho Yong Gi.
Metro Jaya public relations chief of Senior Commissioner Ade Ary Syam Indradi also confirmed that out of the 14 suspects, four of them were members of a medical team or paralegal officers on duty at the May Day demonstration.
"So there were two groups, there were two groups that were secured, 10 of whom were protesters, then the other four people were from the medial team or paralegals, yeah", he said.
"The paralegal team is suspected of committing a crime by not following orders or intentionally not leaving [the demonstration] immediately after being ordered [to do so] three times by or on behalf of the authorised authority as regulated under Articles 216 and 218 of the Criminal Code", he added.
Deep concerns
Meanwhile the head of the University of Indonesia Philosophy Study Program from the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Ikhaputri Widiantini, expressed deep concern over the arrest and charging of participants in the action to commemorate International Labour Day.
"As an educational institution that upholds democratic values, we emphasise that freedom of expression in public is a constitutional right of every citizen guaranteed in the 1945 Constitution and this is an important foundation for living in a democratic and civilised nation", Widiantini was quoted as saying by the state news agency Antara.
Widiantini will also providing legal assistance to a student from the UI Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Cho Yong Gi, as the 14th suspect.
"We also regret that Cho Yong Gi was on duty as part of a medical team at the time of the incident, complete with medical attributes and equipment, but was still subjected to physical violence and arrested", she said.
She also conveyed her commitment to provide moral and academic support to the students and to all parties fighting for justice and freedom of expression in Indonesia. (dis/gil)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "14 Orang Masih Tersangka Demo Buruh, TAUD Sebut Bentuk Kriminalisasi".]