Bamsoet: New Criminal Code is a Strong Foundation to Eradicate Land Mafia

Member of the Indonesian Parliament Bambang Soesatyo/ Photo: ANTARA

Member of the Indonesian House of Representatives Bambang Soesatyo assessed that the new Criminal Code is a strong legal basis for prosecuting land cases, such as falsifying documents to the practice of including false statements in official documents.

"Although it does not specifically use the term land mafia, various articles regarding forgery of letters, forgery of authentic deeds, and false statements in authentic deeds can be effective instruments to trap the perpetrators who have been taking advantage of the administrative gap in land," he said. quoted from a statement received in Jakarta, Sunday.

The former Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, who is familiarly called Bamsoet, revealed that one of the biggest challenges in eradicating the land mafia is the ability of perpetrators to disguise criminal acts through documents that are formally seen as legitimate.

He said that there were many cases that showed land certificates, deeds of sale and purchase, and other documents of transfer of rights issued based on rights that turned out to contain elements of forgery or false statements.

This condition makes the process of proving much more complicated because law enforcement officers must dismantle the series of events from the initial stage of issuing documents.

Therefore, according to him, eradicating the land mafia must use the approach of following the document and following the benefit.

This means that law enforcement officers are not enough to just examine the documents used in the transaction, but must also trace who is the biggest beneficiary of the practice.

"Law enforcement must be able to reach intellectual actors and parties who enjoy the fruits of crime. Land mafia will never really disappear if only field actors are processed, while the main controllers and parties who enjoy the greatest benefits remain free," he said.

However, even though there is a new Criminal Code, he emphasized that the success of eradicating the land mafia also depends very much on the synergy between the police, prosecutor's office, courts, the Ministry of ATR/BPN, local governments, notaries, PPAT, Dukcapil and various other institutions involved in national land management.

"Law enforcement against the land mafia must be carried out in a coordinated manner. The prosecution of perpetrators is important, but more importantly, ensuring that the rights of victims can be restored and the status of problematic land can be returned in accordance with the actual legal circumstances," he said.

In addition, according to him, the digitization of land services, the integration of population data, layered verification systems, the use of geospatial technology, land blockchain, and the use of artificial intelligence to detect document anomalies, can be an important instrument to close vulnerable points in the practice of land mafia.

This step will strengthen the government's efforts to realize a transparent, accountable land system, as well as be able to provide maximum protection for the rights of the community.

"The government must be able to ensure that every inch of land owned by the community is protected by strong legal certainty and is not easily seized through document engineering or abuse of authority," he said.