Court turns down judge's bribery case<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The West Jakarta District Court turned down on
\nTuesday the indictment of a former Supreme Court justice tried
\nfor allegedly receiving bribes, stating that the prosecutor had
\ncharged him under the wrong law.<\/p>\n
Judge Suharjono said the court could not try Yahya M. Harahap
\nbecause the crime, covered by earlier legislation, was only
\nreported after the new, superseding law had been put into effect.<\/p>\n
The defendant was accused of violating Anticorruption Law No.
\n31\/1999, which replaced Anticorruption Law No.3\/1971, while the
\nalleged crime, which took place between October and December
\n1998, was reported in April last year.<\/p>\n
\"We can't try him under the new law, because his case, covered
\nby the old law, was only reported after the new law had already
\ntaken effect. But we can't process Yahya's case using the old law
\nas it has been replaced by the new one,\" judge Suharjono told
\nreporters after the trial was over.<\/p>\n
Harahap was accused of violating Article 1, Paragraph 1c of
\nAnticorruption Law No.31\/1999, Article 420 of the criminal code
\non bribery conducted by judges and Article 418 of the Criminal
\nCode regarding gifts received by state officials.<\/p>\n
Yahya, along with Supreme Court justice Supraptini Sutarto and
\nMarnis Kahar, was reported to the government-sanctioned
\nAnticorruption Team (TGPTPK) by Endin Wahyudin for allegedly
\nreceiving Rp 196 million (US$ 1,685) in bribes.<\/p>\n
Endin, a middleman, said he delivered Rp 96 million ($8,256)
\nin cash to Yahya's house, while Supraptini and Marnis received Rp
\n50 million ($4,311) each, in connection with a land case the
\nthree of them were handling.<\/p>\n
He is now being tried for defamation, following a complaint
\nlodged by Supraptini and Marnis, even though he had been admitted
\ninto the witness program by the Attorney General's office.<\/p>\n
In a court hearing in June, Yahya admitted that he had met
\nEndin three times at his residence but denied that he had
\nreceived any money from the latter.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Supraptini and Marnis were also tried on corruption
\ncharges separately, but the Central Jakarta District Court set
\naside the case on Monday, due to legal defects in the
\nindictments.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Mukarsono, who handled Harahap's case, said he
\nwould appeal to a higher court.<\/p>\n
\"The judge's decision will have a negative impact on the old
\ncases that are still being processed by the Attorney General's
\nOffice,\" he told reporters after the hearing.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Research Institute and Law Assistance for Court
\nIndependency (LeIP) regretted the courts' decisions on the three
\njudges' cases, saying they \"undermine the efforts to battle
\ncorruption and show an inappropriate protection among judges.\"<\/p>\n
\"Technical weaknesses must not result in the release of a
\ncriminal,\" Rifqi Assegaf the executive secretary of LeIP told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"The judges should be able to interpret the law in a more
\nlogical way,\" he added.<\/p>\n
But he admitted that it is important to amend the new
\nAnticorruption Law. The fact the new law was put into effect
\nwithout a transitional arrangement in place has caused confusion
\namong law practitioners in the trial of corruption cases, Rifqi
\nsaid.(06)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/court-turns-down-judges-bribery-case-1447893297",
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