VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Muhammadiyah Secretary General Abdul Mu'ti urged Indonesia's government to maintain public justice and fairness in enforcing law against mass organizations by not solely demonstrating its tough and unbending opposition to the Islam Defenders Front (FPI).

"Enforce law and justice upon all," Mu'ti noted in his Instagram direct message in Jakarta on Thursday while speaking in connection with the government's decision to ban FPI's activities in any form.

The government must adopt a fair approach because if it bans all activities of FPI owing to the absence or expiry of its organizational registration permit, the organization has automatically become non-existent or illegal.

"Hence, the government need not dissolve (the FPI) because it has legally got dissolved automatically," he explained.

Most importantly, the government has acted fairly.  

"Do not just be tough with the FPI but also with other mass organizations that have no organizational registration permits or whose activities cause public disruption are still allowed to exist," he stated.

The government's ban on the organization that had existed since August 17, 1998, was, however, criticized by Rocky Gerung, a popular philosopher and political analyst, in his talk show with Hersubeno Arief from Forum News Network (FNN) on Thursday.

Gerung asserted that the decision to ban FPI had disrupted the people's common sense in democracy since banning an organization runs counter to the democratic principles of freedom of assembly and freedom of expression.

"In a legal construction, what is banned is related to acts of crime. However, how can goodness be banned?" he stated during the talk show broadcast on his official YouTube channel.

The government's ban on all FPI activities can also potentially create confusion on the ground when its members were keen to assist those in their neighborhood area that are direly affected by a natural disaster, Gerung remarked.

Since FPI has officially been declared "unlawful" and its activities banned, the FPI members are no longer able to assist, for instance, those reeling from the impacts of flooding, he remarked.

"This does not make sense," he affirmed.

Prior to its official dissolution, the FPI had partaken in disaster mitigation efforts in various parts of Indonesia, including during Aceh's deadly tsunami in 2004 and Palu's deadly earthquake in 2018.

On Wednesday, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud MD stated that the government had imposed a ban on activities of the FPI in any form.

Mahfud remarked that the FPI had been de jure dissolved as a mass organization since June 20, 2019. However, as an organization, the FPI has continued to conduct its activities by violating public law and order, including by committing violent acts, conducting unilateral sweeping raids, and being instrumental in provocation.

Based on the legislation and decision of the Constitutional Court, dated December 23, 2014, the government has banned FPI's activities and will stop all its activities, he stated.

"If there is organization claiming to be FPI, it will be considered as being non-existent and must be rejected as of today," he affirmed.

Mahfud explained that the ban was also based on a joint decision of Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly, Communication and Informatics Minister Jhonny G. Plate, Attorney General Burhanuddin, and Chief of the National Police General Idham Azis and Chief of the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT), Commissioner General Boy Rafly Amar.

National Defense Forces (TNI) Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto, Laoly, Karnavian, Chief of Presidential Staff Moeldoko, Burhanuddin, Plate, Azis, and Chief of the State Intelligence Agency (BIN) Budi Gunawan were also present at the event. (antaranews)