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Group mulls petitioning free speech rule

Jakarta Post - November 3, 2015

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Jakarta – The Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta) may file a petition with the Constitutional Court against a recently issued gubernatorial regulation that restricts free speech in public spaces.

LBH Jakarta lawyer Maruli Tua Rajagukguk said on Monday that all citizens were protected by the law to convey their thoughts in public spaces and, therefore, issuing a regulation that contradicted this principle was an unconstitutional move.

"The Governor [Basuki 'Ahok' Tjahaja Purnama] has no constitutional authority to restrict people from conveying their thoughts in public spaces," he said on Monday at the organization's headquarters in Central Jakarta.

Ahok issued on Wednesday Gubernatorial Regulation No. 228/2015 on the control of free speech in public spaces.

Article 4 of the regulation stipulates that protestors are allowed to stage protests at only three venues: Parkir Timur Senayan at the Bung Karno Sports Complex in Senayan, Alun Alun Demokrasi (Democracy Plaza) located at the House of Representatives complex and Silang Selatan (Southern Cross) at the National Monument (Monas) park. All three areas are located in Central Jakarta.

The venues listed in the regulation are rarely used as protest sites. Workers, students and residents usually stage protests in front of government offices such as those at City Hall and the State Palace.

Articles 5 and 6 of the regulation also state that protests should be conducted between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. and that the noise level of the sound system should not exceed more than 60 decibels.

Maruli said that members of society should not have to follow the regulation because it went against the Constitution.

"Judicial review will be the last option. The struggle for the moment is disobeying the regulation," he said. Ahok said recently that he issued the regulation because he wanted protestors to behave in a more orderly fashion. "Demonstrations often cause traffic jams on main roads," he said.

He said that he understood all people should have the freedom to express their opinions but argued that they were not entitled to infringe upon the rights of others.

Meanwhile, a group of workers' alliances under the Committee of Action for Wages (KAU), which staged a rally on Friday against recently issued Government regulation No. 78/2015 on the minimum wage formula, is planning another strike on Nov. 3 in Serang, Bogor and Medan before organizing national strikes on Nov. 18 to 20.

The alliances reject the new wage calculation since it does not take into account the basic cost of living (KHL) and is only based on the current fiscal year's inflation and gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates, which they said would decrease workers' purchasing power.

The new regulation is also considered to impede the role of wage committees and labor unions in determining wages as it is calculated based on a fix formula (inflation and GDP).(saf)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/11/03/group-mulls-petitioning-free-speech-rule.html.