Conservative university puts a liberal at the helm<\/p>\n
SEMARANG (JP): A lawyer who believes in justice, freedom and
\nhuman rights has brought a breath of fresh air to Diponegoro
\nUniversity, one of the country's most prestigious state-run
\nschools, when he was installed its rector on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Born in Salatiga, Central Java in 1943, Muladi is expected to
\nbring changes into the university which is considered
\n"conservative" compared to other state-run universities such as
\nthe University of Indonesia in Jakarta, the Bandung Institute of
\nTechnology in Bandung and the Gadjah Mada University in
\nYogyakarta.<\/p>\n
His concern for justice is why so much hope is placed on him
\nto bring his college into closer contact with the real world and
\neveryday issues.<\/p>\n
The youngest of three children, Muladi never even dreamed of
\nstudying at a university. Today, not only is he a rector of one
\nof the oldest universities in the country, he has a reputation
\nwhich has earned the respect of peers and students.<\/p>\n
When he was deputy chairman of the Central Java Golkar branch,
\nfor example, he spoke against the government's policy to bar
\nleading critics from leaving the country.<\/p>\n
"I'm a law professor and I never understood the criteria for
\nthe blacklisting," was his statement then.<\/p>\n
His latest concern is for a balance between independence and
\nfair trials.<\/p>\n
"There should be a balance between independence and fair
\ntrials in a court room. Judges should be independent in order for
\nthem to conduct a fair trial," said Muladi, who is the first
\nalumni of the university to be its rector.<\/p>\n
Muladi, a graduate of the university's law school, is also a
\nmember of the National Commission on Human Rights who has been
\nfighting hard for an inquiry into the Marsinah trial.<\/p>\n
He made the controversial suggestion last month that the
\ntrials of the suspected murderers of labor activist Marsinah be
\nstopped to protect the integrity of the courts.<\/p>\n
He put forth his suggestion as members of the Commission
\nworked hard to find new evidence that there were violations of
\nhuman rights during the questioning of the suspects.<\/p>\n
The Commission launched the probe despite opposition from many
\nparties which argued that it had no right to make inquiries into
\nthe case.<\/p>\n
"The Commission has every right to probe a case if there is an
\nindication of a violation of human rights. Those (opposing)
\nremarks came from people who are worried because they are used to
\ncommitting human rights violations," said Muladi.<\/p>\n
He said some countries have human rights courts which process
\nhuman rights violations, adding that he hoped one day there would
\nbe such courts here.<\/p>\n
Muladi said he honors judges who could stand up for what they
\nbelieve but loathes corrupt ones.<\/p>\n
"In the Surabaya case, if the judge was not bribed, then he
\nwas a professional who stood for his beliefs. In a situation like
\nthat, he made a decision which could draw assumptions, especially
\nnegative ones," Muladi said.<\/p>\n
He was referring to the acquittal of three businessmen of tax
\nevasion charges by a judge at the Surabaya District Court in East
\nJava. Sarwono, the presiding judge in the case, was accused of
\nreceiving bribes from the defendants.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the increasing number of crimes lately, Muladi
\nblamed them on the failure of the security system.<\/p>\n
"It is not merely the police's failure, but a collective
\nfailure. Let's refer to the Emergency Law No.12\/1951, which
\nprohibits people from carrying fire arms and sharp weapons. The
\nlaw is outdated and needs to be renewed by the House of
\nRepresentatives," Muladi said.<\/p>\n
He explained that there are still many people who carry those
\nweapons, which shows that the law is not working anymore.<\/p>\n
In response to reports that the military is handling the
\nkilling of Brig. Gen. TMF Tampubolon by four men in Jakarta last
\nweek, Muladi said the police should take over the case especially
\nsince the Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Feisal Tanjung himself
\nhas said that the killing is a pure criminal act.<\/p>\n
"The police should handle the case. Only if there's an
\nindication of a political scheme does the army has the right to
\nconduct an investigation," said Muladi.<\/p>\n
When asked about what his policy will be in new office, Muladi
\nsaid he would increase the quality of the university lecturers to
\nproduce high quality graduates.<\/p>\n
Currently, Diponegoro University has only one graduate program
\nand that is for the law school. The others are for undergraduate
\nprograms.<\/p>\n
"The quality of a university can be measured by its graduate
\nschool," he said. "One of my targets as rector is to open more
\ngraduate and post graduate schools." (yns)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/conservative-university-puts-a-liberal-at-the-helm-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}