"President has certain concerns regarding several articles in the draft of the revised terrorism law," Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo has received and partially approved a draft of the revised terrorism law, Coordinating Minister for Politics, Law and Security Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has said.

"President has certain concerns regarding several articles in the draft of the revised terrorism law," Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said here on Monday.

However, the president accepted most of the proposed articles in the draft.

As per the draft articles which were approved, one would enable revocation of passports of citizens found supporting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

Other additional articles would help regulate the valid use of electronic information to arrest suspects allegedly involved in terrorist attacks.

It will not be possible to extend the detention period from seven days to 120 days for people who allegedly committed terrorist attacks or planned to carry out attacks, but have not yet been named suspects by the police.

The amended law will also make it possible to prosecute those who discuss issues related to terrorism, as well as those who help facilitate acts of terrorism.

The minister said the government has formulated the draft carefully after considering extensive inputs, including those from criminal law experts and constitutional experts.

"The countrys terrorism law is relatively more moderate than Malaysias terrorism act and Singapores terrorism law," the minister remarked.

Earlier, Prof. Hibnu Nugroho, a legal expert of the University of General Soedirman in Purwokerto, had earlier remarked that the revision of Law No. 9 of 2013 on the prevention and eradication of terrorism should not restrain freedom.

"The revision of Law No. 9 of 2013 on the prevention and eradication of terrorism is necessary due to the developments in society as well as in legal and political areas. However, such a revision should not repress freedoms," Nugroho affirmed.

If the government revises the terrorism law, it must keep in mind the aspirations of the people and human rights activists.

In addition, he opposed any possibility of granting authority to the intelligence service to arrest individuals on grounds of being terror suspects.

"It is not necessary to grant authority to the intelligence agency to arrest suspected terrorists. It is dangerous as we are living in an era of freedom of expression and openness," he pointed out.

He stated that all parties should discuss the revisions being effected in the terrorism act.

With regard to shooting down of terrorists, Nugroho stated that the action was necessary since they posed a threat to the society.

"The law allows police to do this," he affirmed.

In addition, the Chairman of Commission I of the House of Representatives, Mahfudz Sidik, had urged the government to evaluate the performance of government officials in ministries and agencies when it comes to combating terrorism.

"Prior to the revision of Law No. 9 of 2013 on the prevention and eradication of terrorism, the government should evaluate counter-terrorism measures and the implementation of the law to combat terrorism," Sidik emphasized here on Wednesday.

Sidik remarked that the government should conduct evaluation to assess the performance of the institutions in fulfilling their duties in the fight against terrorism.

"If the government finds weaknesses in the implementation process, then corrective steps should be taken. If there are rules that hinder agencies from carrying out their duties, the government should revise the terrorism law," he pointed out.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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