Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has agreed that a transitional period is needed in order to synchronize all related laws before soldiers stand civilian trials for non-military crimes, Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono said Sunday.

After consulting with the President, Juwono said the government needed a period of up to three years before enforcing the 2000 law on the Indonesian Military (TNI), which orders military officers to be tried in civilian courts for ordinary crimes. The transitional period would be used to amend interconnected laws to avoid any legal problems in implementing the 2004 law, Juwono added.

Other laws that should be revised, he said, included the Military Criminal Code, the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedures Code. Articles in those laws allow soldiers accused of criminal acts to face military trials.

The 2000 law and a 2000 decree issued by the People's Consultative Assembly changes this as part of a gradual effort to reform the military. The TNI enjoyed exclusivity and legal impunity during the 32-year tenure of former authoritarian ruler Soeharto, who himself is a retired five-star general.

Hot debate over the issue of civilian trials stalled the deliberation of the military tribunal bill. The House of Representatives had proposed the move, while the government expressed reluctance.

Last week, Justice and Human Rights Minister Hamid Awaluddin said Yudhoyono had agreed that soldiers must face civilian trials for criminal charges. The controversy over the issue should be ended with the President's remark, Hamid added.

Critics say military tribunals perpetuate the culture of impunity within the TNI because they are not sufficiently open to public scrutiny. Juwono had suggested that civilian judges and prosecutors be deployed to military tribunals during the transition period.

The government recently finished drawing up the revisions to the Criminal Code, and the bill awaits deliberation at the House. But there were no plans so far to amend the Military Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedures Code.

Andreas Pareira, who chairs a House special committee deliberating the military tribunal bill, said lawmakers could understand the government's request for a transitional period. However, Andreas added, that did not mean that the deliberation of the bill should be halted while the other laws were revised.

"The revisions to the other laws can go in parallel. If we wait for the other laws to be amended first, I am sure nothing is going to happen ever. We shouldn't waste more time. The military tribunal bill can go on and even get enacted long before those other laws are revised. Just put an auxiliary article in the bill about trying soldiers in civilian courts," he said.

Furthermore, the lawmaker from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle asserted that the government should take the initiative to propose revisions to the Military Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedures Code if it was serious in its commitment to fully reform the military.

"Revising laws could take from months to years, depending on the commitment of both the House and the government. So if they mean what they say, they should immediately submit revisions to those laws and start deliberation with the House," he said.