AG defends review appeal<\/p>\n
Antara, Padang, West Sumatra<\/p>\n
Attorney General M.A. Rachman hinted on Saturday that
\nirregularities had been found in the Supreme Court's decision to
\nnullify an earlier ruling that sentenced Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala
\nPutra to 18 months in prison.<\/p>\n
\"Many legal arguments (provided by the Supreme Court in its
\ndecision) were untrue. Therefore, we have the obligation to
\nclarify the case and file a counterappeal on the Supreme Court's
\ndecision,\" Rachman said as quoted by Antara on the sidelines of
\nthe installment ceremony for the new West Sumatra Provincial
\nProsecutor's Office chief in Padang, West Sumatra.<\/p>\n
In a hearing presided over by Justice M. Taufik last Monday,
\nthe panel of justices ruled in favor of Tommy on the grounds that
\nthe youngest son of former president Soeharto had quit his
\nposition as president commissioner of wholesale firm PT Goro
\nBatara Sakti before it struck a land swap deal with the State
\nLogistics Agency (Bulog) in 1996.<\/p>\n
Initially, the South Jakarta District Court ruled that Tommy
\nwas not guilty, but the Jakarta High Court overturned the lower
\ncourt's verdict and sentenced him to 18 months in prison. The
\nSupreme Court in September last year upheld the High Court's
\nverdict.<\/p>\n
But the Supreme Court last Monday, with a different panel of
\njustices, overruled the verdict after Tommy's lawyers requested a
\nreview of its September 2000 verdict.<\/p>\n
Rachman said the Attorney General's Office respected the
\nSupreme Court's Monday decision, but had the obligation to
\nclarify the case.<\/p>\n
\"We have to straighten out incorrect things. Therefore, we
\nhave also filed an appeal for a review of the Supreme Court's
\ndecision,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He cited the Supreme Court's argument that it had found novum
\n(new evidence).<\/p>\n
\"There is no such novum. All the evidence was submitted when
\nthe prosecutors filed an appeal with the Jakarta High Court,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Rachman claimed that the assertion that Tommy had quit his
\npost as president commissioner of PT Goro Batara Sakti before the
\ndeal was signed was not true.<\/p>\n
\"It's not true. He (Tommy) was the guarantor for the loan (of
\nPT Goro Batara) from Bank Bukopin,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The attorney general said that there was no regulation that
\nprohibited his office from filing a counterappeal to the Supreme
\nCourt's decision.<\/p>\n
In response to Rachman's plan, two prominent legal experts --
\nJimly Asshidiqqie and J.E. Sahetapy -- underlined the importance
\nof establishing an independent fact-finding team to be in charge
\nof reviewing the Supreme Court's verdict.<\/p>\n
Jimly, a lecturer at the University of Indonesia, said that
\nthe team could be in the form of a special committee at the House
\nof Representatives, which is authorized to question law
\nofficials.<\/p>\n
\"The team has to question the prosecutors, justices and the
\npolice who were involved in handling the case from the
\nbeginning,\" Jimly told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Asked whether the attorney general had the right to file
\nanother review of the verdict, Jimly said that it could be done
\nwhenever new evidence was found.<\/p>\n
Sahetapy, a lecturer at Airlangga University Surabaya, shared
\nJimly's remarks, saying that such a team was needed to reverse
\nthe legal procedure taken by the panel of judges to release
\nTommy.<\/p>\n
\"If the team can reveal that the justices' procedure was
\nwrong, all of them will have to resign,\" Sahetapy told the Post,
\nreferring to the three panel justices -- Soeharto (no relation to
\nformer president Soeharto), M. Taufiq and Geerman Hoediarto.<\/p>\n
Sahetapy said that based on Article 1 of the law on judicial
\npower, a judge must rely on the law and judicial precedent to
\nissue a verdict.<\/p>\n
He said that the three justices had used the incorrect legal
\ncode. \"They used the civil code for the case that should have
\nbeen reviewed under the criminal code,\" Sahetapy said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ag-defends-review-appeal-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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