Judges grilled over controversial Manulife ruling<\/p>\n
Novan Iman Santosa and Yogita Tahilramani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Apparently bowing to pressure from Canada, the Jakarta High Court
\ngrilled three Commercial Court judges on Tuesday in connection
\nwith suspicions that they had allegedly accepted bribes to
\ndeclare PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia (AJMI) bankrupt.<\/p>\n
Not only that, the three judges -- Tjahyono, CH. Kristi
\nPurnamiwulan and Hasan Basri -- will also be questioned by a team
\nfrom the Inspectorate-General of the Ministry of Justice and
\nHuman Rights.<\/p>\n
The ministry has even released the three judges from their
\ndaily duty of presiding over cases while they await completion of
\nthe investigation.<\/p>\n
Chief of the Central Jakarta District Court and the Commercial
\nCourt Muhammad Saleh said the three judges were questioned on
\nTuesday by a three-member team of High Court judges, presided
\nover by Jakarta High Court chief Ridwan Nasution.<\/p>\n
\"I was ordered to ensure the judges showed up for questioning.
\nI did that,\" Saleh told The Jakarta Post, adding that the judges
\nwere interrogated throughout Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The Jakarta High Court investigation team will report to
\nSupreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan.<\/p>\n
Judges are under the supervision of the Supreme Court, but
\nadministrative matters are dealt with by the Ministry of Justice
\nand Human Rights.<\/p>\n
The ministry has already started an investigation into the
\nthree judges.<\/p>\n
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said
\nthe investigation by ministry Inspector-General Koesnan
\nReksodirdjo began on Monday with the questioning of all the
\nwitnesses.<\/p>\n
The team has been given a maximum of 10 working days from
\nMonday to complete its investigation and hand over the results to
\nYusril.<\/p>\n
Yusril said that the investigation would initially examine
\npossible disciplinary violations by the judges.<\/p>\n
\"We do not want to investigate the substance of the trial as
\nthat falls under the Supreme Court's jurisdiction,\" Yusril said.<\/p>\n
The three Commercial Court judges ruled on June 13 that
\nManulife was bankrupt, after a receiver of now-defunct PT
\nDharmala Sakti Sejahtera, the local partner of Manulife, had
\nfiled a bankruptcy petition over unpaid dividend in 1999.<\/p>\n
The ruling became controversial as Manulife is -- according to
\nthe Ministry of Finance -- a solvent company, and the
\nshareholders had not authorized any dividend payment during that
\nperiod.<\/p>\n
The decision prompted a diplomatic row between Indonesia and
\nCanada, with the latter pressuring the former to intervene.<\/p>\n
Minister Yusril denied that the investigation was a result of
\npersistent pressure from the Canadian government.<\/p>\n
He said the investigation was necessary to ensure the
\nintegrity of the country's court system.<\/p>\n
Supreme Court secretary-general Gunanto Suryono said that the
\nthree judges, like other judges at the Commercial Court, had
\nsatisfied the legal and educational criteria for becoming
\nCommercial Court judges before being appointed to the position.<\/p>\n
\"Sometimes, there are judges who do foolish things. There are
\nbad eggs in the basket ... which spoil the whole basket. This is
\nwhy an investigation is necessary,\" Gunanto told the Post.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/judges-grilled-over-controversial-manulife-ruling-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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