The perpetrator of the Water Spraying to Andrie Yunus Must Be Tried in the General Court

Expert in criminal law and secretary general of the Indonesian Association of Criminal Law and Criminology Teachers (Asperhupiki) Ahmad Sofian said the case of water spraying by TNI personnel to KontraS activist Andrie Yunus must be tried through a public trial.

Sofian also explained that the application of military justice was not appropriate because the victims were the general public or did not occur in a state of military emergency. Both war emergency situations and insurrectional emergency situations.

"So, the public court is the most appropriate when they commit a general criminal offense for the first time. The second is when they or members of the military, members of the TNI commit a criminal offense that is not in a military situation or locus of urgency or in a state of war or rebellion," he said. reported by ANTARA, Thursday, March 26.

In a normal situation when TNI members commit a criminal act, it should not be the military justice system that is applied, but the general justice system, namely the criminal case of TNI members who commit common criminal acts in the form of persecution, theft, vandalism, and rape.

The context is in accordance with the principle of criminal acts committed by TNI personnel.

According to Sofian, cases of criminal offenses in Indonesia involving TNI personnel have occurred due to the wrong application of the military justice system.

The wrongheadedness is contained in Article 65 paragraph 1 of Law Number 34 of 2004 concerning the TNI which states that the TNI in administration, discipline, and criminal acts applies a military justice system.

"In this TNI Law, especially in Article 65 paragraph 1, it is stated that TNI soldiers who commit criminal acts, both general criminal acts and military criminal acts, are subject to and tried by military courts," he said.

He continued, "as long as Article 65 paragraph 1 is still in the TNI Law, the perpetrators of the crime of spraying hard water to Andrie Yunus will certainly be tried under Law Number 31 of 1997 concerning Military Justice."

Article 65, said Sofian, is contrary to Article 27 paragraph 1 of the 1945 Constitution which states that everyone is equal before the law, and the government so that they must uphold the law and government.

The conflict is considered to place TNI personnel in a higher position than civilians.

Therefore, said Sofian, by placing members of the TNI who commit general criminal acts to be tried in military courts shows that TNI members have a position that is not equal to other citizens when other citizens commit general criminal acts.

"In fact, they both committed a common crime. This is, in my opinion, the problem that exists today, whoever commits a common crime, whoever it is, must be subject to the Constitution Article 27 paragraph 1, subject to the law in the same position as the law and be tried in the same court, not get special privileges in the military court," he said.

He said that in order to process the case before the public court, a judicial review to the Constitutional Court (MK) was needed.

In addition, President Prabowo Subianto also needs to issue a Government Regulation in Lieu of Law (Perppu) which requires perpetrators to be tried through public courts by being confronted with the Code of Criminal Procedure (KUHAP) and the new Criminal Code (KUHP).

"If, for example, Article 65 paragraph 1 has not been repealed, it will be difficult to try TNI members who commit criminal acts against Andrie Yunus, a KontraS activist in front of the public court, unless the President makes a Perppu to try them with the new KUHAP Law and the new Criminal Code and this Perppu states that Article 65 paragraph 1 is declared not applicable," said Sofian.