Government Wants to Grant Preemptive Powers to Counter Radicalism

Jakarta, Jan 20 (Antara) - The government is taking steps to grant preemptive powers to counter radicalism, according to the chief security minister. "The point is that we want to grant preemptive powers, possibly to the police, to enable security officers to make temporary arrests for a week or two," Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Binsar Panjaitan stated at the presidential palace complex here on Tuesday. The government is holding discussions on revising the counterterrorism law to include preemptive powers in a bid to tackle radical movements, he noted. On Monday, Minister Panjaitan remarked that apart from the planned revision of the law on terrorism, the government is also considering a revision of the law on intelligence to allow the intelligence agency to arrest terrorists. "It is worth considering. We have reviewed the general regulations. The suspects can be detained for 10 days and can then be released. Yes, why not?" the minister affirmed. Earlier, Chief of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) Sutiyoso had pointed out that the law on intelligence should be revised to allow the agency to arrest terrorists. In the meantime, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung stated at the presidential office on Tuesday that the meeting chaired by President Joko Widodo and attended by leaders of state institutions such as the House of Representatives (DPR) and the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) discussed the need to revise relevant regulations to prevent radicalism. Indonesia will compare its radicalism prevention regulations with those implemented in other countries such as Malaysia and Singapore, he noted. The law revisions, however, would still uphold the principles of human rights as Indonesia is a democratic country, he emphasized. However, the government and state institutions are still evaluating whether to revise the existing relevant laws or to issue a government regulation en lieu of law. If it is decided to revise the laws, the DPR will schedule the deliberation in the National Legislation Programs this year, according to Panjaitan. House Speaker Ade Komarudin remarked that the Parliament had set a target to deliberate and issue 30 laws in 2016.