Disciplinary committee sought for probe into graft<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Corruption watchdog Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) urged
\njudges on Saturday to form a disciplinary committee to probe an
\nalleged corruption case that reportedly implicates a South
\nJakarta District Court judge, which was reported to police on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
"The committee needs to investigate the panel of judges in the
\nreported case, not only the judge in question," ICW coordinator
\nTeten Masduki said in a statement on Saturday.<\/p>\n
If proven guilty, those involved in the case should be
\ndismissed, he said, adding that the case should also be legally
\nprocessed.<\/p>\n
He also demanded the government to be transparent when
\nhandling cases involving judicial corruption.<\/p>\n
The government has so far failed to publicly clarify any cases
\nimplicating judges, including how many had been interrogated and
\nhow many had been sent to court, Teten added.<\/p>\n
"It seems that these cases are covered up and made a state
\nsecret," he said.<\/p>\n
ICW urged the police to immediately investigate the complaint
\nfiled by lawyer Wawan Iriawan, who reported the alleged extortion
\nconducted by a judge.<\/p>\n
"We hope these measures will help uncover cases of judicial
\ncorruption in the country in an effort to uphold the law," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Judicial corruption is rife among judges here, but many such
\ncases remain largely untouched, he said.<\/p>\n
Among the reported cases was a ruling issued by the Central
\nJakarta Commercial Court on the bankruptcy of Canada-based
\nManulife Financial Corp in June. The decision was later
\noverturned by a higher court while the judges were suspended for
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
On Friday, Wawan reported to city police that judge Torang H.
\nTampubolon had demanded a hefty Rp 3 billion (US$330,000) in
\nexchange for a favorable ruling for his client's firm, PT Satya
\nTeguh Persada, which had lost a civil case to plaintiff PT Asri
\nKencana Gemilang.<\/p>\n
The commercial dispute also involved the Indonesian Bank
\nRestructuring Agency (IBRA) and state-owned Bank Mandiri.<\/p>\n
The request was rejected, but Wawan said that his client had
\nbought the judge a cell phone upon the latter's request.<\/p>\n
Tampubolon has denied the allegations. The judge did not
\nappear in court after the allegations were made public.<\/p>\n
Chief Justice Bagir Manan said he had ordered his personnel to
\ninvestigate the case.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/disciplinary-committee-sought-for-probe-into-graft-1447893297",
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