Crime is Never Perfect
Will the Constitutional Court judges decide the case according to the call of truth or will the crime of democracy become a perfect crime?
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Expressions of amicus curiae former President Megawati Soekarnoputri in the article "Statesmanship of Constitutional Court Judges” (Kompas, 8/4/2024) can be seen as an articulation of the people's voice demanding justice in the 2024 presidential election dispute.
The hearing of the dispute by the Constitutional Court (MK) has been concluded on April 5, 2024. The MK then held a judges' deliberation meeting before reading its verdict on April 22.
The people are now anxiously waiting for the decision of eight Constitutional Court judges that will determine the future of the nation, whether it will enter the dawn of civilization or the dark alley of immorality.
The final vote count by the General Elections Commission (KPU), which was won by Prabowo Subianto-Gibran Rakabuming Raka, was not accepted by the Anies Baswedan-Muhaimin Iskandar and Ganjar Pranowo-Mahfud MD camp, who suspected structured, systematic, and massive (TSM) fraud in the 2024 Presidential Election.
Also read: ”Amicus Curiae”, MK Considered or Ignored?
A network of fraud is suspected to involve President Joko Widodo, former Chairman of the Constitutional Court Anwar Usman, the General Election Commission (KPU), and other state officials in manipulating legal regulations to pass Gibran as a vice presidential candidate, the president's misuse of social aid, intimidation of officials towards potential voters, and vote rigging by the KPU.
Meanwhile, a wave of demonstrations and rejection of election fraud and amicus curiae were raised by various academic circles and other elements of civil society confirmed the alleged practice of crimes against democracy in the 2024 presidential election—the crime against democracy.
Perfect crime
Fraud in the democratic process is a crime that involves methods of deception (data, letters, voter voices), forgery (documents, degrees, recapitulation results), embezzlement (voters, identity), abuse (authority, facilities), manipulation (laws, election rules), and plundering (social assistance).
Democratic crimes involving technology—such as Sirekap—result in ”hyper-reality of democracy”: the results of counting voters' votes that "exceed" the reality of the votes themselves. There is a gaping gap between the “image of reality” (sound) and reality (sound) itself—the hyper-reality of sound (Baudrillard, 1981, 1983).
When a crime is so sophisticated—one that goes undetected, leaves no traces or evidence, no witnesses, and cannot be proven in court so that the perpetrator can roam free—we are facing a "perfect crime" (perfect crime). .
The perfect crime is a crime that is completely hidden and concealed so that it cannot be detected, known, and proven. The crime hides behind a façade of "goodness" that is attributed to oneself as deception (Baudrillard, 1995).
When crimes involve state agents, we are dealing with "state crimes".
The principle of "keeping one's mouth shut," omertà, is a powerful tool for perfect crime, especially for mafia crimes: anyone suspected of speaking out is immediately silenced or eliminated! Therefore, perfect crime is only effective when carried out by one or two individuals, not a large group.
The perfect crime requires a systematic and structured plan, which is broken down into detailed elements that must be controlled, supported by high-level devices, technology, and expertise to carry out monumental criminal work.
However, apart from the sophistication of the perpetrator, a perfect crime may be because there are "judicial loopholes” (judicial loopholes) in the legal system (Jekel, 1982). For example, the Election Law regarding TSM, as mentioned by Muhammad F Akbar, actually opens up "loopholes" for fraud (Kompas, 13/4/2024).
When crime involves state agents, we are dealing with "state crime", namely organized state deviation that involves violations of law and human rights (Green & Ward, 2004). This kind of crime is suspected to have occurred in the 2024 presidential election—state crime against democracy.
Also read: Revealing the Truth Behind Election Disputes
State crimes against democracy are orchestrated acts of terror by insiders in the government to manipulate the democratic process and undermine the sovereignty of the people. This is a high-level crime that destroys democracy itself, by damaging existing political and government institutions (deHaven-Smith, 2010).
Election fraud is a form of democratic crime that involves deviations in voting, such as bribery, intimidation, or falsification, which tarnish democratic elections. It damages the natural process of voter registration, ballot acquisition and tabulation, verification, and certification of election results.
Similar to the mafia, the technique of "silencing" or omertà is also practiced by the state to silence critical voices and cover up the scent of crime through intimidation, terror, and violence. In this sense, Father Frans Magnis Suseno equates the state with a mafia group.
Prophetic justice
Rejection of the presidential election results due to alleged TSM fraud also occurred in the 2014 and 2019 presidential elections, as shown by the submission of disputes over the results of the general election (PHPU) to the Constitutional Court. Both of these disputes were rejected by the Constitutional Court, even though the plaintiffs had brought many witnesses and pieces of evidence.
Here, there are two possibilities. First, TSM's fraud may not exist because it cannot be proven in the Supreme Court. Second, the fraud may be a "perfect crime", where the crime exists but cannot be proven due to sophistication or a "judicial gap" that is cunningly exploited.
The patterns of fraud alleged in the 2014, 2019, and 2024 Presidential Elections are identical, namely, vote rigging, the mobilization of state apparatus, and intimidation against those who have "truth" about the fraud. However, in the 2024 Presidential Election, the involvement of the state, specifically the president, is more overt.
Only in the 2024 presidential election will the voices of rejection from academics and elements of civil society against fraud—including legal manipulation and dynastic politics—become more structured and massive. They also filed an amicus curiae, to "accompany" the MK in uncovering the truth.
However, in the 2024 presidential election the involvement of the state, especially the president, will be more overt.
Academics and intellectuals who "came down from the mountains" showed a free and objective "academic eye" seeing the fraud in the 2024 presidential election - involving the president and other state officials - as an objective "fact". Therefore, they filed amicus curiae so that the judges could decide the case objectively.
Now, hope for "true justice" rests on the shoulders of eight judges at the Constitutional Court as a test of conscience, whether they will decide the case according to the call of truth or allow the democracy crime to become a "perfect crime": there are "facts" of TSM fraud, but the judges are not able to reveal it.
Indeed, there is no single perception or theory of "justice" (Lebacqz, 1986; MacIntyre, 1996). Here, a judge is an autonomous individual and free to make decisions. Nevertheless, they exist within the legal institution as a "second nature," where the "rationality" of their decisions is tested based on the institution's ideals: freedom, impartiality, and independence (Soeharno, 2009).
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Finance Minister Sri Mulyani arrived at the continuation of the dispute court hearing at the Constitutional Court (MK), Jakarta, with an agenda to present four ministers as witnesses on Friday (5/4/2024).
At the very least, there are three reasons why noble judges are demanded to reveal the truth and uphold true justice based on the ideals of the Constitutional Court.
First, the inscription of a quote from the Quran, Surah An-Nisa, verse 135, which is written on the walls of the Constitutional Court building, serves as an idealization of the meaning of the Constitutional Court. The verse reminds judges to uphold true justice without discrimination and to testify honestly.
Second, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court Suhartoyo and the other judges—at their oath-taking ceremony as Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court on November 13 2023—have vowed to take various important steps to restore and increase public trust in the Constitutional Court.
Third, the judges have been sworn in in the name of the holy book so that even though they are free individuals, the call of God's voice and prophetic spirit should guide them in deciding cases 2024 presidential election disputes.
Also read: MK that starts, MK that ends
The sound of the gavel from the Constitutional Court judges will determine the future of democracy. Whether the decision is that there has been a manipulation of the law, abuse of power, intimidation by state apparatus, and manipulation of the people's votes with all the consequences on the election results.
Or, the judge's decision states that there are no democratic crimes involving the state, giving way to "the perfect crime" in every election: structured, systematic and massive fraud untouched by law, under the cover of "judicial loopholes -the perfect crime i>”.
Of course, the Indonesian people place very high hopes on the Constitutional Court judges to uphold true justice for the greater interests of the nation's future.
Yasraf A Piliang, ITB Social and Cultural Thinker
Yasraf A Piliang
