Pubdate: Thu, 04 Jul 2013
Source: Jakarta Globe (Indonesia)
Copyright: 2013 Jakarta Globe
Contact:  http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5226
Author: Farouk Arnaz

POLICE TOO HARD ON USERS: JUDGE

The mind-set of law enforcers needs to be changed to make them 
understand that not all drug users are criminals and that they need 
rehabilitation instead of imprisonment, says a Supreme Court judge.

"Users aren't criminals, and the mind-set of law enforcers such as 
police and prosecutors needs to change," Justice Surya Jaya said at a 
discussion in Jakarta on Wednesday.

"The process in handling drug abusers isn't implemented well, and 
that's why we're seeing so many of them jailed."

Surya said the Supreme Court had already issued circulars urging 
judges to prioritize rehab instead of jail for offenders charged with 
nothing more serious than possession or consumption of token amounts 
of narcotics.

"The 2009 Anti-Narcotics Law clearly states that those caught with 
possession of narcotics amounting to less than 5 grams should be 
categorized as users and not as dealers," Surya said.

"But law enforcement officers have failed to implement this article."

He added that judges should always refer to the 2009 law when issuing 
rulings against drug users, and try to determine whether the 
defendants were victims of drug abuse and therefore entitled to 
medical and social rehabilitation.

"But the fact remains that judges can still be blamed for only 
ordering rehabilitation without a jail sentence. Maybe in the future 
we can change this by, for instance, ordering probation," said Surya, 
who is also a law professor at Hasanuddin University in Makassar, 
South Sulawesi.

He also stressed the importance of focusing on the requirement for 
drug addicts to report periodically to the authorities, saying this 
was an important in keeping them in rehab programs.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last month called on law enforcers 
to make a distinction between drug users and drug dealers, saying the 
former should, where possible, be rehabilitated rather than jailed.

He said the current law enforcement approach to tackling drug 
offenses was ineffective because it criminalized users who should be 
treated as victims.

"Members of our young generation, who have become victims [of drug 
use], are losing their past and their present," he said on June 24, 
ahead of the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit 
Trafficking on June 26.

"Don't let them lose their future as well. We must give them 
guidance. The solution [for drug users] is not jail, but 
rehabilitation. The concept shouldn't be one of punishment, but of salvation."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom