HOLOPIS.COM, JAKARTA – Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections, Yusril Ihza Mahendra, has urged the public to refrain from taking the law into their own hands, calling on law enforcement agencies and local governments to strengthen public education on handling criminal cases.
Yusril said police and regional authorities should actively encourage communities to report suspected crimes to law enforcement instead of resorting to vigilante violence against individuals accused of theft, robbery, or other offenses.
“People should not take the law into their own hands. Suspected offenders must be handed over to the police so the legal process can proceed in accordance with the law,” Yusril said, Holopis.com reported, Wedsnesday (29/7).
He stressed that acts of vigilantism violate both Indonesian law and human rights principles.
“The public must not take the law into their own hands against people suspected of theft, robbery, mugging, or any other criminal offense,” he said.
According to Yusril, vigilante actions often create new legal and social problems rather than resolving crime.
“These actions create new problems because they are not in accordance with the law. I urge the public to respect human rights and comply with the laws that are in force,” he added.
Yusril cited a recent case in Bali, where a man accused of stealing a chicken was reportedly captured by local residents, beaten, tortured, and ultimately died from the assault.
“It is deeply tragic that the life of a chicken is treated as equal to a human life. Cases like this have occurred in many other regions as well,” he said.
