JAKARTA ~

The United States Department of Justice or Resident Legal Advisor’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training (OPDAT) recognizes the superiority of the witness and victim protection system in Indonesia.

“The witness and victim protection program in Indonesia is better than our country,” Steve Kessler from the Resident Legal Advisor’s Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development, Assistance and Training stated through the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) in Jakarta, on Wednesday.

Kessler noted that the witness and victim protection program in the United States is conducted by the US marshals at the federal or interstate level.

Kessler explained that the US central government merely provides hotel accommodation for the protection of witnesses and victims for several days until the case is submitted for trial.

“Then the police guard the hotel,” Kessler remarked.

In the meantime, the witness and victim protection program comes under the authority of the LPSK, which was established under Act No. 13 of 2006 on the Protection of Witnesses and Victims.

The LPSK offers protection to witnesses and victims during criminal trials to help them deliver their testimonies.

The agency also has a mandate in place to provide rehabilitation to the victims of particular criminal acts, such as terrorism, corruption, human trafficking, human rights violations, and the victims of torture, sexual violence, and severe abuse.