LPSK Will Form Friends Of Witnesses And Victims In All Provinces

JAKARTA - The Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) will form friends of witnesses and victims in all provinces in Indonesia to help the community, especially witnesses and victims gain access to protection from the institution.

"Friends of witnesses and victims are a group of volunteers, not paid by LPSK but all activities will be facilitated by LPSK," said LPSK Chairman Hasto Atmojo Suroyo at the Kick-off event of the Community-Based Witness and Victim Protection Program in Yogyakarta, Antara, Thursday, June 2.

The formation of friends of witnesses and victims, he said, is a derivative of the Community-Based Witness and Victim Protection Program launched in Yogyakarta.

"In the first period, we will focus on six or seven provinces, and Yogyakarta will be a priority," he said.

Hasto said LPSK will recruit many groups to join as friends of witnesses and victims, including civil society, advocates, and artists' groups.

According to him, they have the task of helping witnesses and victims carry out the initial procedure for submitting an application for protection to the LPSK. "How the victim needs protection support, and then it will be communicated so that LPSK can follow up," said Hasto.

The role of friends of witnesses and victims who will later be spread throughout the country, he said, is very strategic considering that LPSK only has two representative offices in the regions, namely in Yogyakarta and Medan.

"The obstacle (the establishment of a representative office) is the first budget, the second is human resources. Therefore, we consider the step to form friends of witnesses and victims as a strategic step to overcome this problem," he said.