Rendi A. Witular, Jakarta – Under the bill on intelligence, recently drafted by legislators for the government to jointly deliberate, the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) is granted special powers in carrying out its work.

Aside from establishing a firm legal basis for the nation's intelligence agencies, the bill eliminates much-debated provisions giving intelligence officials the authority to arrest and interrogate suspects.

"Since our existence has not been recognized by law, we cannot fully perform our duties," said BIN chief Gen. (ret.) Sutanto.

Because BIN has no specific law of its own, its intelligence operations, including communication interception and other methods of data gathering, are deemed illegal by legislators and analysts.

Under the latest bill, BIN will have authority to intercept communications and track the flow of funds related to terrorism, separatism and other forms of threat that may harm the country's sovereignty.

Communication interceptions include telephone and fax tapping, as well as opening email and postal articles. Under the bill, BIN will need no prior court approval for such undertakings.

The agency will also have the authority to request information and data from the central bank, the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK), non-banking institutions and money transfer institutions.

However, the bill lacks stipulations that would ban intelligence agencies from conducting operations to support politicians in power or to act against their political opponents.

The draft also fails to establish multiple independent layers of supervision at BIN – a common practice for intelligence agencies in other democracies.