High court chief orders inquiry into whistle-blower<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The head of the Jakarta High Court, M. Ridwan Nasution, has
\nordered an inquiry into a lawyer who accused a judge of
\nextortion.<\/p>\n
In a letter signed Jan. 10, Nasution asked the head of the
\nSouth Jakarta District Court, Lalu Mariyun, to question lawyer
\nWawan Iriawan, who earlier filed a complaint against judge Torang
\nH. Tampubolon over alleged extortion.<\/p>\n
The letter, which said there was no evidence supporting
\nWawan's accusation against the judge, was made available to the
\nmedia on Tuesday. The letter also bans the lawyer from handling
\ncases under the district court's jurisdiction pending the results
\nof the inquiry.<\/p>\n
Mariyun said he had not yet read the letter.<\/p>\n
\"I have to learn what is in the letter first before taking any
\ndecision on the matter,\" he said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Wawan Iriawan, who at the time was representing PT Setya Teguh
\nPersada, filed a complaint with the city police and the Supreme
\nCourt last month against Torang, who is a judge with the South
\nJakarta District Court.<\/p>\n
The judge was hearing a commercial dispute involving PT Setya
\nTeguh Persada and PT Asri Kencana Gemilang.<\/p>\n
Wawan admitted giving Torang a Nokia 8855 cellular phone at
\nthe latter's request. In two later meetings at a hotel, according
\nto Wawan, Torang demanded Rp 3 billion in exchange for a ruling
\nin favor of PT Setya Teguh Persada.<\/p>\n
Wawan says he refused to pay the judge, and PT Setya Teguh
\nPersada eventually lost the case.<\/p>\n
Separately, the chairman of the Advocates Association of Human
\nRights, Dorma Sinaga, demanded the Indonesian Ethics Council of
\nthe Advocates Profession Commission try Wawan Iriawan, who he
\nsuspected violated the profession's ethics code.<\/p>\n
Sinaga referred to Article 8, Line 7 of the Lawyers' Code of
\nEthic, which states that during a trial a lawyer is only allowed
\nto meet with judge(s) together with the opposing counsel.<\/p>\n
There have been two recent similar cases involving accusations
\nof bribery and corruption against members of the legal system.<\/p>\n
Last year, the courts gave a middleman at the Supreme Court,
\nEndin Wahyudin, a prison sentence for defaming two of the Court's
\njustices and one retired justice. The middleman had filed a
\nreport with a now-defunct anticorruption investigation team,
\naccusing the three of bribery. The trial of the three justices
\nhas been halted.<\/p>\n
In another case, prosecutor Kito Irkhamnie filed a report
\nabout the alleged hidden wealth of Attorney General M.A. Rachman
\nwith the Public Servants Wealth Audit Commission. Kito was
\narrested as is now in detention at Cipinang prison in East
\nJakarta.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/high-court-chief-orders-inquiry-into-whistle-blower-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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