Hukman Reni attending a judicial review hearing of Veteran Law, Monday (5/8/2024). Photo by: MKRI/Bayu

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Jakarta, MKRI – The Constitutional Court held the second hearing of material judicial review of Article 4 letter c of Law No. 15 of 2012 on the Veterans against the 1945 Constitution on Monday, August 5, 2024. Petitioner Hukman Reni revised his petition No. 74/PUU-XXII/2024.

During the hearing led by Justice Anwar Usman, Hukman mentioned that revisions had been made to the Court’s authorities, legal standing, reasonings, and petitum. “Regarding the Court’s authorities, to elaborate, the petitioner made a revision based on the provisions of Article 24 paragraph 2 of the 1945 Constitution juncto Article 18 of Law No. 48 of 2009 on the Judicial Power, which basically mentions that Judicial Power is exercised by the Supreme Court (MA) and judicial bodies under it and by a Constitutional Court (MK). In addition, the petitioner also cited Article 7 of Law No. 12/2011 on the Establishment of Legislation, which stipulates that the 1945 Constitution is hierarchically higher than the Law. Therefore, every provision of the law must not contradict the 1945 Constitution," said Hukman, who attended the hearing offline without a lawyer.

Furthermore, in the legal standing section, Hukman refers to Article 51 paragraph (1) of Law No. 24 of 2003 concerning the Constitutional Court in conjunction with Article 4 paragraph (1) of the Constitutional Court Regulation No. 2 of 2021 which regulates that parties who can submit petitions are individual Indonesian citizens who consider their constitutional rights and authorities to be impaired by the enactment of laws.

Also read: Entrepreneur Challenges Veteran Law

In the preliminary hearing, the petitioner argued that Article 4 letter c of Law No. 15 of 2012 on Veterans only stipulates that those who can be awarded veteran’s merits awards are those who were part of official armed militias and fought from 1975 to 1976. The Petitioner believes that this time limitation restricts the rights of the Petitioner or others who had also defended the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia in East Timor up until 1999.

“In addition to the time limitation, it also restricts those who contributed their efforts and thoughts to defending the country in East Timor during the integration period. This includes those who worked as Indonesian Red Cross members, teachers, and others,” Hukman said

 Hukman pleaded that Article 4 letter c of the Veteran Law be amended to extend the time frame from May 21, 1975, to July 17, 1976, to cover the period from 1975 to 1999, or at least until October 19, 1999, when the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) issued Decree No. V/MPR/1999 on referendum in East Timor. Additionally, the explanation should explicitly include that Indonesian citizens who had been involved in various roles—such as members of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), healthcare workers, general education teachers, public kitchen managers, armament and ammunition personnel, communication officers, couriers, drivers, village guards, people’s defense (wanra), people’s security areas (kamra), and spies who actively participated in the events in East Timor during this period—are entitled to receive honors and recognition as veterans of the Republic of Indonesia.

Author   : Utami Argawati.

Editor     : N. Rosi

PR          : Fauzan F.

Translator: Rizky Kurnia Chaesario/Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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