We Are In A Time When The Passion For Imprisonment Is Greater Than The Effort Of Upholding Justice

JAKARTA - A 68-year-old grandfather was sentenced to two months in prison for taking rubber latex. In another case, the 92-year-old grandmother was imprisoned for 44 days for cutting down a durian tree. Two cases both fell on the court because of reports to the police. The people of this country are very aware of the law. Enthusiasm for the law is high. Yes, although law enforcement is not the same as justice.

The first case involved an old grandfather named Samirin. He was sentenced to two months in prison by the court. This case occurred in early 2020, when Samirin was caught taking rubber sap from a plantation owned by PT Bridgestone. The giant tire company then reported Samirin on 1.9 kilograms of rubber, which, if cashed, was worth Rp. 17 thousand. Seventeen thousand rupiah.

Two years earlier, a grandmother named Saulina boru Sitorus alias Ompung Linda was dragged to sit in a prison chair because she cut down a durian tree belonging to a 70-year-old man, Japaya Sitorus. which incidentally is still related to Ompung Linda. In a statement, Ompung Linda admitted that the felling of trees with a diameter of 5 inches in Panamean Hamlet, Sampuara Village, Toba Samosir, North Sumatra was carried out to build the graves of his ancestors.

Not only Ompung Linda. His six children, Marbun Naiborhu (46 years), Bilson Naiborhu (60), Hotler Naiborhu (52), Luster Naiborhu (62), Maston Naiborhu (47), and Jisman Naiborhu (45) were also sentenced to the same sentence: four months and ten days of imprisonment, although in the end all of them get reduced sentences.

The law is unjust

We contacted a legal expert, Adrianus Eliasta Meliala to find out his views on this phenomenon. According to Adrianus, the increasing number of reports of minor crimes cannot be separated from the jargon echoed by the authorities.

"The state also encourages people to take legal steps through the socialization of the jargon 'we are a rule of law' and the jargon of 'rule of law'. For this reason, people's access to legal remedies is facilitated and even supported," said Adrianus to VOI, Thursday, March 12.

It is really good, if the rule of law is accompanied by efforts to uphold justice. Otherwise, the law will only be a means of affirming social class. Whereas legal access is actually only owned by people who are rich or at least knowledgeable.

Social class affirmation. According to the criminologist from the University of Indonesia, Ferdinand Andi Lolo, the lack of social ties between individuals in society is the reason why people report so easily. The route of deliberation or custom began to be forgotten. This was also triggered by a government legal campaign that was not accompanied by efforts to preserve community wisdom.

"People are starting to lose their social ties. The methods of deliberation and consensus are starting to be abandoned, replaced by confrontational and aggressive litigation methods," said Ferdinand.

Meanwhile, if the phenomenon is seen from a sociologist's point of view, Musni Umar said it was due to the loss of trust in community and religious figures. In fact, their role is very important in society as figures who can make decisions if problems occur.

"People are currently going through a transition period but they have forgotten the roles of community leaders who are actually around them," said Musni.

In fact, there is a view in society that all people who make mistakes must be dealt with firmly by the police and equalize with the perpetrators of serious crimes. "Everyone can be guilty and think the wrong person should be killed or imprisoned," said Musni.

The prison is full

The amount of lust for imprisonment is actually a problem. Indonesian prisons are already overcrowded. Nationally, data from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights at the end of 2018 recorded that the excess capacity of prisons in Indonesia reached 203 percent.

Quoted from the writing of era.id, May 13, 2019, in 2018, there were 256,273 prison residents, an increase of 24,197 people compared to 2017. This figure is worrying, because the average prison in the country can normally only accommodate 126,164 prisoners. .

Broken down into criminal cases, the largest number of convicts have increased in drug cases. It was recorded that there were 74,037 bookies and 41,252 drug users who were sent to prison.

After drugs, the case with the highest number of convicts enlarged is corruption. Until that year, the country had sent 5,110 thieves of public money. Furthermore, there are illegal logging convicts with 890 convicts, terrorism convicts (441) and money laundering convicts (165).

Looking at the recorded trend, the average number of prison residents annually increases to 22 thousand people, with details of 232,080 in 2017, 204,549 in 2016, and 173,572 people in 2015.