Chief Justice: Case brokers must be eradicated
Supreme Court denies ICW’s accusation of corruption cases
KPK (Corruption Eradication Commission) leader, Tumpak Hatorangan, meeting with Chief Justice, Hon. Harifin A. Tumpa. (photo: vivanews)
Jakarta | badilag.net/english (18/11)
Chief Justice, Hon. Harifin A. Tumpa, said, as quoted by vivanews.com, that the Supreme Court is determined to eradicate case brokers in the Indonesian courts. The Supreme Court, he added, has in fact undertaken some serious efforts to stamp out these court case brokerages since years ago.
“We have set regulations stipulating that judges must not receive guests from disputing parties, moreover those who will file cases,” Harifin said at a press conference Wednesday (18/11).
In addition, Harifin went on, the Supreme Court prohibits judges from accepting any gifts. Such regulation has been formulated in the code of ethics for judges when handling cases. And the Court strictly abides by the code, he said.
“Until this October, we have punished more than 30 judges,” he said while adding that the punishments were ranging from dismissal to suspension from adjudicating cases.
Establishment of Corruption Courts
Harifin also told the press about the establishment of Corruption Courts. Law No. 46/2009 on Corruption Courts states that Corruption Courts shall be set up throughout Indonesia.
As the first step, seven Corruption Courts will be established in provinces of Medan, Palembang, Semarang, Bandung, Surabaya, Makassar, and Samarinda. Ad Hoc judges for the courts are publicly open and will be selected by a committee headed by Djoko Sarwoko, Deputy Chief Justice for Special Criminal Cases. The announcement will soon be published in national newspapers, mahkamahagung.go.id reported.
Chief Justice, Hon. Harifin A. Tumpa (second from right) in the press conference (18/11) (photo: mahkamahagung.go.id)
Denial against ICW’s accusation
On this occasion, the Supreme Court denied ICW’s (Indonesia Corruption Watch, NGO) allegation that 70 % out of all corruption suspects were freed by district courts. According to the data that have been gathered by the Supreme Court for the last three months, from 1269 finalized corruption cases in first instance and appellate courts, 1055 (83,14%) were sentenced and the rest 214 cases (16,86%) were freed.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has decided 201 corruption cases out of which 101 cases were rejected and the other 100 cases were approved with only 3 cases that were freed. (choliluna)