100 Days Of Prabowo's Government, Minister Pigai: No Civil Freedom Restrictions

Minister of Human Rights Natalius Pigai at a joint working meeting with Commission XIII of the Indonesian House of Representatives at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Thursday 31 October 2024. (ANTARA-Putu Indah Savitri)

JAKARTA - Minister of Human Rights (HAM) Natalius Pigai said that no restrictions on civil liberties were carried out by state officials on the first 100 working days of the Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto administration.

"Over a hundred days, I haven't seen state officials curbing civil liberties. I also haven't seen state officials imprison their people," Pigai said at a working meeting with Commission XIII DPR RI at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Wednesday.

He stated that the government gave full freedom to the public to express opinions, thoughts, and feelings so that the traffic of freedom of expression went well.

"The dynamics of democracy take place in a safe and peaceful manner, be it opinions, thoughts, public feelings, thoughts of actors, opposition, political parties, civil society, activists, as well as agencies that have full authority," he said.

Pigai then said, "Of course, freedom is unlimited. In accordance with the Law on Human Rights, freedom can only be limited by law. Therefore, in accordance with the corridor of the law, it is in accordance with human rights."

In addition to the aspect of freedom of expression, Pigai also said that President Prabowo's government did not violate democratic principles on its first 100 working days.

"The government is not included in the democratic matters that occur or that we completed yesterday. Whether it is the election of party leaders, community organizations, or regional head elections, all are given freedom," he said.

This can even be seen from the victory achieved by opposition political parties in a number of regions in the 2024 Simultaneous Regional Head Election (Pilkada).

"There are also many opposition victories everywhere. Gerindra has lost, lost a lot. What does that mean? This is democracy in this nation that is more open and free, all the nation's children are fighting," he explained.

The Minister of Human Rights added that this positive achievement was an achievement that was achieved by President Prabowo's government in his first 100 working days, as well as hope for the upholding of human rights in the country.

"That's why what we (the government) can contribute to this nation by President Prabowo Subianto is that in the first 100 days (first) no one has been imprisoned, detained, prosecuted for insulting state officials, and no state official has imprisoned his people. This is a sign of freedom for the next five years," he said.

At the beginning of the meeting, Pigai conveyed the assessment of human rights freedom on 100 working days of President Prabowo's government when he was explaining the plan to grant amnesty to prisoners caught in legal cases violating the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (UU ITE) against state leaders or state officials.

"Therefore, this amnesty is in line with the granting of amnesty related to the ITE Law case," said Pigai.