Tobacco control activists are continuing their long campaign against the lawmakers were accused of removing a key point with the 2009 Health Bill, requiring the police to stop investigating the case will be restored.
Ki Agus Ahmad, a lawyer for the Coalition of Anti-Corruption Office of Tobacco Control points (Kakar), said the group filed a petition to the South Jakarta District Court on Monday that police tried to cancel the order to abandon the investigation.
We require that the general crime unit of the national police to reopen the investigation into why the article was removed, and refer the matter to the Office of the Attorney General for prosecution, “he told reporters outside the courthouse.
The dispute related to the revelation, soon after the adoption of the amendment of medical law in 2009 that the item classification of tobacco as an addictive substance has not been included in the final draft.
Critics have argued that this was done on the orders of a powerful lobby of tobacco in the country, and the House of Representatives acted quickly to restore the situation. Kakar, led by Hakim Sorimuda Pohan, a former lawmaker who helped draft the amended bill, then reported Ribka Tjiptaning, the chairwoman of the House’s health oversight commission, to the police for the omission.
The case against her was dismissed in October 2010, police said inaction is not a crime.
Agus said the police interpretation of the case was flawed, arguing that under the Criminal Code, Ribka and two other legislators responsible for the final draft, Aisyah Salekan and Maryani Baramuli, may be charged with falsifying documents and forging signatures.
The offenses carry maximum prison sentence of seven years.
“The fact that the omitted item was recovered does not prevent us from pursuing criminal charges against those legislators who should be held accountable for their actions,” said Agus.
Testifying at Monday’s hearing, Adj. Sr. Comr. Yusmar Latief, a representative of a unit of police crimes, said the decision to dismiss the case was
based on recommendations from well-known criminal law expert Chairul Huda, a reservation that inaction is not a crime.
He also acknowledged that among the evidence collected before the case was dismissed handwritten notes were signed by Ribka, Aisyah and Maryani, who said that “the change. Article 113, paragraph 2, which will be dropped.”
He said that while this version is limited to the bill was passed by the House, the actual project, which was sent to the Ministry of Health and the State Secretariat for signature by the president retained the dropped item.
“We have confirmed that the law is signed by the President in paragraph question, so our arguments that there was no crime committed by three legislators,” said Yusmar.
