Antigraft court officially begins operation<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati
\nFabiola Desy Unidjaja
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri swore in a team of nine non-
\ncareer judges on Thursday, which will try high-profile corruption
\ncases involving state officials.<\/p>\n
The installation of the judges, which had been delayed for
\nunexplained reasons, means the much-awaited Anticorruption Court
\nhas officially opened.<\/p>\n
The nine judges, who took an oath before Megawati, were M.S.
\nLumme, Hamrat Hamid, Krisna Harahap, As'adi Al Ma'ruf, Sudiro,
\nAbdurrahman Hasan, Dudu Duswara, I Made Hendra Kesuma and Achmad
\nLinoh.<\/p>\n
Along with six career judges, they will be assigned to hear
\ncorruption cases at the district courts and higher courts. A
\npanel of five judges will be assigned at each level.<\/p>\n
All the 15 judges are currently completing special training
\nconducted by the Supreme Court in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Megawati issued a presidential decree on the establishment of
\nthe Anticorruption Court last month, but it could not be made
\noperational until after the nine non-career judges were
\ninstalled.<\/p>\n
Under the prevailing law, it is the president, not the Supreme
\nCourt chief, who is authorized to swear in judges for the
\nAnticorruption Court.<\/p>\n
The court has the authority to deal with high-profile graft
\ncases brought in by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).<\/p>\n
Thursday's installation of judges was attended by newly
\nelected House of Representatives speaker Agung Laksono and
\nRegional Representatives Council (DPD) chairman Ginandjar
\nKartasasmita. Interim coordinating minister for political and
\nsecurity affairs Hari Sabarno was also among those present.<\/p>\n
Separately, KPK chairman Taufiqurrahman Ruki immediately
\nannounced on Thursday that his office would soon submit two-high
\nprofile graft cases to the court.<\/p>\n
The two cases included a Rp 4 billion (US$444,444) case
\nimplicating Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Governor Abdullah Puteh who
\nis charged with marking up the price of a Russian helicopter for
\nhis administration.<\/p>\n
The other case involves Harun Letlet and Capt. Tarsisius
\nWalla, both current officials at the Ministry of Communications.<\/p>\n
The two have been named suspects in a graft scam over the
\nconstruction of a seaport in Maluku, which caused an estimated Rp
\n10 billion in state losses.<\/p>\n
Deputy KPK chairman Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean said that his
\noffice would name more suspects in the case against Governor
\nPuteh, who also heads the civil emergency administration in Aceh.<\/p>\n
\"We have found convincing evidence, but we'll split the case
\nfiles (of Puteh and other suspects),\" he told a press conference.<\/p>\n
Tumpak said the commission is expected to hand over those
\ncases to the court this month at the latest. \"But, we will visit
\nthe court first to observe whether the judges are prepared to
\naccept the cases or not.\"<\/p>\n
Before the press conference, the KPK chairman installed 10
\nofficials to head important posts in the commission, which had
\nbeen left vacant since its establishment late last year.<\/p>\n
Among the 10 were Waluyo, a former senior official with a
\nforeign oil company who was appointed as deputy chairman of the
\ncorruption prevention division, and M. Syamsa Ardisasmita, a
\nformer National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan) head who was sworn
\nin as the KPK deputy chairman for information systems and data.<\/p>\n
Other officials included Junino Jahja, a former finance
\ndirector of private telecommunication firm Indosat who was sworn
\nin as KPK deputy chairman for internal monitoring and public
\ncomplaints.<\/p>\n
The commission only deals with corruption cases involving
\nstate officials and a minimum of Rp 1 billion.<\/p>\n
The KPK is also tasked with monitoring and preventing
\ncorruption practices in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
However, due to what experts and its members say is lack of
\nsupport from the government, a vacuum in qualified personnel and
\nfinancial difficulties, the commission has not been able to do
\nits best for the nation.<\/p>",
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