Judges caught between bribery and shooting<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The murder of Supreme Court justice Syafiuddin
\nKartasasmita on Thursday has raised the question of whether
\njudges should be allowed to carry guns to protect themselves.<\/p>\n
Judges from the Tangerang District Court in Banten revealed
\nthat they had asked the Supreme Court to issue them gun licenses
\nbecause many of the cases they handled dealt with drug
\ntrafficking and political crimes.<\/p>\n
\"We have sent the request to the Supreme Court so that we can
\nprotect ourselves since we are often threatened,\" the spokesman
\nfor the court, Silvester Djuma, said as quoted by Antara on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
The judges said should the request be granted, they were
\nwilling to take lesson on how to operate a gun.<\/p>\n
But not all judges feel they need special protection.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court's deputy chief justice, Taufiq, said threats
\nwere simply one of the consequences of their profession.<\/p>\n
\"I'm not afraid. It's the risk of this profession. I don't
\nthink I need special protection,\" he said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Although the police have yet to uncover the motive for
\nSyafiuddin's murder, many people believe it was connected with
\nthe cases he handled.<\/p>\n
Retired Supreme Court justice R. Sunu Wahadi said Syafiuddin
\nhad often been approached by people offering him bribes.<\/p>\n
Sunu and Syafiuddin were members of the panel of justices who
\nsentenced former president Soeharto's son Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala
\nPutra to 18 months in jail for corruption.<\/p>\n
He said he last met with Syafiuddin on Tuesday, and the
\ndeceased told him that some people had offered him Rp 20 billion
\nin exchange for ruling in favor of Soeharto's golfing-buddy
\nMohammad \"Bob\" Hasan.<\/p>\n
\"He also said that Pande Lubis' people had seen him too. But
\nhe rejected them all,\" Sunu said before a ceremony to pay tribute
\nto Syafiuddin.<\/p>\n
Bob Hasan and Pande Lubis are involved in separate corruption
\ncases.<\/p>\n
Sunu said he had received threatening phone calls following
\nthe issuance of the ruling in Tommy's case. He said the callers
\nthreatened to blow up his house.<\/p>\n
Judicial Watch founder Todung Mulya Lubis said on Friday that
\nit was logical to assume the murder of Syafiuddin was related to
\nthe controversial cases he had handled.<\/p>\n
He said certain parties whose economic, business and political
\ninterests were harmed by the government's drive to eradicate
\ncorruption would use any possible method to intimidate and
\nterrorize judges, prosecutors and lawyers.<\/p>\n
\"This murder has made this country hell for those who intend
\nto uphold justice and the law,\" he said on the sidelines of a
\ndiscussion here.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Judicial Watch coordinator A. Muhammad Asrun said
\nan investigation of five district courts in Jakarta revealed that
\nmany of the judges were now taking care to avoid shows of wealth.<\/p>\n
\"They no longer drive their luxury cars to the office. Instead
\nthey park the cars somewhere and take public transportation.\"<\/p>\n
He disclosed that many of the judges lived beyond their
\nofficial salaries, with cases of judges sending their children
\nabroad for school and others owning expensive properties. (bby)<\/p>",
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