Pigai warns lawmakers not to draft asset-forfeiture bill like a communist state

Indonesia’s Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai has issued a warning to parliament over the drafting of the Asset Forfeiture Bill: the measure must not become a tool for taking ordinary citizens’ property.

Pigai said Indonesia is a state governed by law, not a communist or authoritarian state. “When formulating a law, its impact must be considered if it is misused to pressure the people, especially people who may not even be suspects,” he wrote on X.

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When formulating a law, its impact must be considered if it is misused to pressure the people, especially people who may not even be suspects.

He said property seizures should rest on legislation reinforced by a court decision. “If the state is given the authority to seize people’s property, that exists only in communist states and states based on power. We are a Rechtsstaat, and the seizure of property must be based on a law and reinforced by a court decision,” he said.

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If the state is given the authority to seize people’s property, that exists only in communist states and states based on power. We are a Rechtsstaat, and the seizure of property must be based on a law and reinforced by a court decision.

Pigai urged lawmakers to focus the bill on corrupt officials, criminal mafias and perpetrators of offenses including narcotics crimes, terrorism, trafficking and smuggling. “The targets of asset forfeiture should be corruptors and mafias, as well as perpetrators of specific crimes such as narcotics, terrorism, trafficking and smuggling. Do not target innocent ordinary people,” he said.

Parliament is working on the bill and aims to pass it by mid-December 2026. Habiburokhman, chairman of the parliament’s Commission III, said asset-forfeiture rules in other countries cover more than corruption. He cited U.S. civil forfeiture, which can target proceeds from drug crimes, money laundering, smuggling and securities manipulation, and Britain’s Proceeds of Crime Act, strengthened by unexplained-wealth orders, which can cover serious crime, tax evasion and organized fraud without requiring a criminal conviction first.

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The targets of asset forfeiture should be corruptors and mafias, as well as perpetrators of specific crimes such as narcotics, terrorism, trafficking and smuggling. Do not target innocent ordinary people.