Exactly a year since the government outlawed hardline Islamist organization Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), a court ruling today has ensured that the group will remain banned for the foreseeable future.
The State Administrative Court (PTUN) in Jakarta today rejected HTI’s appeal against the government ban, leaving few legal options left for the organization to resume its existence in Indonesia.
“We reject the plaintiff’s appeal in its entirety,” said presiding judge Tri Cahya Indra Permana at the conclusion of the hearing today, as quoted by Kompas.
HTI has 14 days to appeal the decision, and they look set to do so.
“If we accept [the decision], that means we accept cruelty, we let cruelty happen, and we accept that the preaching of our ideals is wrong. Would you let the preaching and teaching of Islamic values be outlawed?” HTI Spokesperson Ismail Yusanto said during a speech to a crowd of HTI members who assembled outside the court, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.
Last year, President Joko Widodo signed a decree (Perppu) allowing the government to unilaterally disband civil society organizations contrary to Pancasila, with HTI being the first and only casualty of the Perppu so far. Since then, HTI has filed for a judicial review against the Perppu with the Constitutional Court (MK), but the decree was ratified into law by the House of Parliament (DPR) in October, which was also when HTI filed for an appeal against the revocation of their illegal status with PTUN.
When the Perppu was issued, it seemed to unite people from opposite sides of the political spectrum in criticism against the government. While hardline groups feared that they may be targeted by the Perppu (which has now become law), rights activists warn that it represents a serious threat to human rights – specifically the right to free association. Since the law allows the government to disband mass organizations without involving the court system, they argue it could be used as a powerful tool of repression by the current or future administrations.
The government remains steadfast in defending the law, insisting that it’s needed to save Indonesia from dangerous ideological threats and terrorism.
Hizbut Tahrir is a global Islamic political organization and HTI was its Indonesian branch. The organization aims to re-establish an Islamic Caliphate that unites Muslim all over the world under Sharia Law. The group allegedly has ties to violent extremist groups, such as Jemaah Islamiyah, which is responsible for the 2002 Bali bombing. More recently, the brains behind the January 2016 bomb attack on Jakarta, Bahrun Naim, was revealed to be a student of HTI before he joined ISIS, the infamous terrorist organization with goals similar to Hizbut Tahrir.
HTI has also been accused for planning to overthrow the government on several occasions, with the ultimate purpose of establishing an Islamic Caliphate in Indonesia.
Brien Doyle says
The HTI should be treated as a traitorous organisation – They are admittedly and actively ‘Anti Pancasila’ – and they must be prosecuted as such….
They are Anti _Indonesian