HAPI grills lawyers Elza in ethics hearing<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra's lawyer Elza Syarief, who has been
\naccused of paying witnesses to lie in court, was brought before a
\nlawyers' ethics committee on Friday, in what appeared to be a
\nsmoke screen.<\/p>\n
The Indonesia Advocates and Lawyers Association's (HAPI)
\nethics committee is questioning Elza over the case, which involve
\ntwo witnesses in Tommy's court case.<\/p>\n
The ethics hearing took place in the ballroom of the Sahid
\nJaya Hotel in Central Jakarta, which was turned into a
\n\"courtroom\" with the five-member HAPI ethics committee acting as
\na panel of judges, complete with robes.<\/p>\n
This \"panel of judges\" issued two recommendations. The first
\nwas that the Jakarta Police not summon Elza as either a witness
\nor a suspect in the bribery case while she was still being
\nquestioned by the ethics committee.<\/p>\n
The second recommendation was that Elza not represent Tommy
\nuntil her hearing, which is scheduled to last three days, was
\ncompleted.<\/p>\n
Elza, however, refused this second recommendation, saying that
\nTommy psychologically depended on her.<\/p>\n
The HAPI ethics committee was established on Wednesday, with
\nYan Apul Girsang as the chairman. Yan Apul is also chairman of
\nHAPI's disciplinary council.<\/p>\n
Yan Apul admitted that the association had no set procedures
\nto conduct the hearing. Therefore, it would use the Indonesian
\nBar Association's procedural code, with some modifications.<\/p>\n
Yan Apul was once tried for giving false information before a
\nnotary public in Surabaya. However, the court acquitted him from
\nany charges last year.<\/p>\n
Elza is accused of having paid Rahmat Hidayat and Tatang
\nSomantri to withdraw statements they had made to the police.<\/p>\n
The two, who are in police detention, admitted that Elza gave
\nthem each Rp 2 million before they testified in court. Elza,
\nhowever, says that she gave Rahmat Rp 1 million to buy decent
\nclothes to attend the hearing on April 10.<\/p>\n
Separately, spokesman of the Jakarta Police Headquarters Sr.
\nComr. Anton Bachrul Alam said Elza would be summoned as a suspect
\nfor questioning on Monday.<\/p>\n
HAPI's ethics hearing will not affect the questioning, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Lawyer Frans Hendra Winarta, who attended the hearing as an
\nexpert witness, criticized the hearing, which adopted the
\nformation of a criminal court.<\/p>\n
\"It's an ethics hearing, not a criminal hearing. They must
\nfocus on ethics violations only. Criminal violations can only be
\ntried in court,\" he told The Jakarta Post after the hearing.<\/p>\n
According to Frans, witnesses should not be confronted
\ndirectly with the accused as \"the judges\" would examine the facts
\nwith the association's ethics code.<\/p>\n
If the judges find the accused guilty, they must suspend their
\nassociation membership.<\/p>\n
\"It has nothing to do with the criminal charge by the police.
\nAn ethics hearing can only produce an ethics decision, to which
\nits members are bound,\" said Frans.<\/p>\n
But he said he did not believe that the hearing would be
\neffective in upholding ethics among the law profession, which is
\nnotorious for bribery.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hapi-grills-lawyers-elza-in-ethics-hearing-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}