REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – Expert on constitutional law Yusril Ihza Mahendra said the government could not disbanding Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) without appropriate mechanism. 

"The government could not disband a community organization with legal status and national scope, without persuasively give three times memorandum,” said Yusril in a press release in Jakarta on Monday (May 8). 

Yusril said, when persuasive actions to HTI were ignored, the government might submitted the community organization through trials. During the trial, the community organization should have a chance to defense itself by giving evidences, witnesses, and expert’s statements in front of the judges. The District Court’s decision could be appealed to the Supreme Court. 

Based on article 59 and 69 No. 17 in 2013 on Community Organizations, community organizations were forbidden to spread hostility to any ethnics, religions, races and groups, doing separatist activities, collecting funds for political parties and spreading thoughts contrary to Pancasila. 

Therefore, he said, the legal status of the community organizations could be taken and it means that the community organization was disbanded. Yusril said the government should be careful in taking the action to disband the organization. 

"Legal steps should be based on a deep review as strong evidence. The minister proposal to prosecutors might be defeated by HTI’s lawyers,” said him. 

Also read: Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia explains substancies of khilafah

Yusril argued that the plan to disband HTI was a sensitive issue as it was an Islamic community organization. Although not all Indonesian Muslims agreed to its ideology, its existence was respected and was argued to have contribution in Islamic preaching. 

The decision would strengthen the government’s image as unfriendly to Muslims’ organizations while giving more space to the left groups which were argued to have contrary ideologies to Pancasila. 

Yusril said the government should seek to know why many Islamic organizations strengthened. They left moderate principles to the more radical ways. Radicalism often occurred when a group experienced discrimination, poor and marginal group. 

"The government should be proportional in treating all the elements of the society. The weaker should be protected by the stronger and the stronger should avoid arbitrary actions,” he said. 

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