Yasonna Laoly

Yasonna Hamonangan Laoly (born 27 May 1953) is the current Minister of Law and Human Rights of Indonesia.[1][2] He was a member of the North Sumatra regional legislature from 1999 to 2003, and of the People's Consultative Assembly from 2004 to 2014.[2] He is the first ethnic Nias to hold a cabinet position.[3]

Yasonna Laoly
Minister of Law and Human Rights
Assumed office
23 October 2019
PresidentJoko Widodo
Preceded byTjahjo Kumolo (acting)
In office
27 October 2014 – 27 September 2019
PresidentJoko Widodo
Preceded byAmir Syamsuddin = Tjahjo Kumolo (acting)
Personal details
Born
Yasonna Hamonangan Laoly

(1953-05-27) 27 May 1953
Sorkam, Central Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia
CitizenshipIndonesian
Political partyIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
Alma materUniversity of North Sumatra (S.H.)
Virginia Commonwealth University (M.Sc.)
North Carolina State University (Ph.D.)
Signature

Personal life

Yasonna Laoly is of mixed Nias and Batak heritage. His father was Faogö’aro Laoly, a police officer and a native of the remote island of Nias. His father once traded frying oil from Medan to Nias due to the low salary of police officers.[3]

Before studying law at Universitas Sumatera Utara, Yasonna was planning to become a priest.

Yasonna is proud of his Nias heritage, and once wore traditional Nias war dress to an Indonesian independence parade.[4] His selection as a cabinet minister was greeted with enthusiasm by fellow ethnic Nias.[5]

Activism and political career

As a college student, Yasonna became active with the local chapter of Indonesian Christian Students Union, and was also a founder of the Nias Students Association.

After graduation, he worked as lawyer and later joined HKBP Nommensen University as lecturer in its newly established Faculty of Law. From that position, he earned a scholarship to study law abroad, first at Virginia Commonwealth University and later for his doctorate at North Carolina State University.

Following the fall of Suharto in 1998, Yasonna turned to politics, first as a member of North Sumatra Provincial Assembly and later of the People's Representative Council representing the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. Following the 2014 election of fellow PDI-P member Joko Widodo as president, Laoly was selected as a member of Widodo's Working Cabinet.

As Minister of Law and Human Rights

Yasonna's selection was predicted, as he was considered part of the PDI-P's inner circle. As Minister of Law, his portfolio includes administration of Indonesia's penal and immigration institutions, authoring law proposals, and overseeing political organizations. He made several controversial decisions such as giving abusive recommendations on political leader of parties whose leadership were still in dispute on the court,[6][7] also the decision of the iniative about Revision of Corruption Law and Criminal Code led to massive protests across the country in 2019.[8]

In this position, he helped President Joko Widodo draft the Government Law on Mass Organizations (known in Indonesia by its abbreviation, "Perppu Ormas"), which banned Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI), an organization which seeks to establish a caliphate in Indonesia.[9] The law provoked several demonstrations by HTI's members and sympathizers, and litigation in Constitutional Court of Indonesia.[10]

In response to criticism of overcrowding and poor conditions in prisons, he said the problems were caused by a lack of personnel and high land prices, which hampered construction of new prisons.[11]

In 2017, Yasonna announced the creation of a National Harmony Council which would use non-judicial mechanisms to deal with past human rights abuses, prompting criticism this would restrict justice for victims and their families.[12]

In 2019, Yasonna was criticized for publicly endorsing the Criminal Code bill, which would criminalize criticism of the president and vice president, and criminalize sex outside marriage. He was also criticized over his support for revisions to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Law, which were seen as undermining KPK's powers. Yasonna was a member of the government team that drafted the Criminal Code bill, and he represented the government in parliamentary hearings on the amended KPK Law. Following the criticism, Yasonna on 1 October 2019 resigned from his ministerial position, deciding to take a seat he had won in the House of Representatives in the April 2019 general election.[13] However, on 23 October 2019, President Widodo re-appointed Yasonna as minister of justice and human rights for a second period, causing Yasonna to resign from the House of Representatives.[14]

Obstruction of justice accusation

Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) in January 2020 called on President Joko Widodo to dismiss Yasonna, accusing him of obstruction of justice for giving false information on the whereabouts of PDI-P member Harun Masiku, who was declared a corruption suspect on 9 January.[15] The KPK accused Harun of bribing General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner Wahyu Setiawan, who had allegedly requested Rp900 million (US$66,000) in exchange for approving Harun to replace a deceased member of the House of Representatives.[16] Wahyu was arrested in a sting operation on 8 January, but Harun remained at-large. Yasonna on 16 January said Harun had left Indonesia on 6 January and was still abroad—even though media group Tempo reported that Harun had returned to Indonesia on 7 January. The Directorate General of Immigration, which is part of Yasonna's ministry, took 15 days to admit that Harun had indeed returned on 7 January. Yasonna denied he had deliberately misled the public on the whereabouts of his fellow PDI-P member, saying: "I am a religious person. I swear to god that it was an error."[17] KPK said it would examine whether Yasonna had violated Article 21 of Corruption Law No.31/1999 in conjunction with Law No.20/2001 on the Obstruction of Justice.[18] President Widodo responded to the scandal by calling on ministers to be more careful when giving statements and to cross-check their information.[19] In response to calls by ICW for his own resignation, Yasonna on 28 January 2020 fired Immigration Director General Ronny Sompie, blaming him for the misinformation.[20]

References
  1. Fadli, Minister postpones lease fee increases in Batam. Jakarta Post, 16 November 2016. Accessed 24 November 2016.
  2. Official Profile at the Ministry website. Accessed 24 November 2016.
  3. ""Yasonna Hamonangan Laoly, Jalan Panjang Menuju Menteri"". Suara Nusantara.
  4. ""Kenakan Baju Perang Nias di Istana, Yasonna Dapat Sepeda dari Jokowi"". Kompas. 17 August 2017.
  5. ""Apa Kata Warga Nias Tentang Yasonna H. Laoly Jadi Menteri"". Nias Satu. 27 October 2014.
  6. Hasil Rapat KMP: Menkum HAM Yasonna Laoly Abuse of Power
  7. Tak Sahkan Menteri Yasonna Bakal Dipolisikan PPP Kubu Djan Faridz
  8. ICW: Menkumham Tak Berpihak Pada Pemberantasan Korupsi
  9. ""Kemenkumham Kaji Laporan Ormas Diduga Anti-Pancasila Selain HTI"". Kompas. 3 August 2017.
  10. "HTI Galang Dukungan Penolakan Perppu Ormas ke Sejumlah Fraksi di DPR". Kompas. 18 July 2017.
  11. "Yasonna: Perbaikan Lapas Terganjal Anggaran dan Mahalnya Harga Tanah". Kompas. 21 June 2017.
  12. Tasevski, Olivia (25 October 2019). "Indonesia's new cabinet and its human rights implications". Lowy Institute. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  13. Adriyanto, Heru (28 September 2019). "Justice Minister Resigns to Join the House". Jakarta Globe. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  14. Gorbiao, Marchio Irfan (22 October 2019). "Jokowi's new Cabinet: ex-minister Yasonna, first-term minister Budi Karya to return to posts". The Jakarta Post. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  15. Rahma, Andita (24 January 2020). "ICW Urges Jokowi to Dismiss Yasonna Laoly". Tempo.co. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  16. "KPK puts PDI-P politician, bribery suspect Harun Masiku on most-wanted list". The Jakarta Post. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  17. Nurita, Dewi (23 January 2020). "PDIP Legal Team Urges Harun Masiku to Surrender". Tempo.co. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  18. Bunga, Halida (24 January 2020). "KPK to Follow Up ICW's Report on Yasonna Laoly". Tempo.co. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  19. "Jokowi ke Yasonna Laoly: Hati-hati!". Jpnn.com. 24 January 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  20. Putri, Budiarti Utami (29 January 2020). "Copot Ronny Sompie, Yasonna Laoly Bantah Buang Badan". Tempo.co. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
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