Expert: President could grant amnesty for Din Minimi group

Expert: President could grant amnesty for Din Minimi group.

JAKARTA -- The president could grant an amnesty for surrendering members of Aceh's armed radical group of Din Minimi, a law expert said.

Margarito Kamis, an expert in constitutional law, said the president could grant the amnesty after asking for the opinion of the House of Representatives (DPR).

"Whatever the response from the DPR , agreeing and disagreeing, the president could grant the amnesty," Margarito Kamis said at a discussion titled "Dialectic: Amnesty Right Step for National Reconciliation" at the House of Representative Building here on Thursday.

He said asking for opinion is like a notification , therefore, does not require approval, unless there is regulation requiring approval from the DPR.

The plan of the government to grant amnesty for Aceh's armed radical group Din Minimi, is the right step toward cementing reconciliation, he said.

He said the plan to grant amnesty to Din Minimi group could inspire other radical groups in the country to lay down their weapons and give up fighting.

If all radical groups surrendered, Indonesia would be safer and national integrity would be stronger, he said.

Meanwhile, a lawmaker from Commission I of the House Effendi Simbolon said the government should not be that easy to grant amnesty to the armed radical group of Di Minimi.

The government has to consider the crime they have committed before granting amnesty, he said.

Effendi said the Din Minimi group has committed grave crime causing the death of other people, soldiers and civilians.

"If the government wants to grant amnesty, it should be given after there is legal proceeding on the crime they have committed that caused the death of other people," he said.

The lawmakers of the Commission I were split over the government plan to grant amnesty for the radical group of Din Minimi.

One group agreed to grant the amnesty without legal investigations and another group said there should be lega l proceedings befoe granting amnesty.