Muladi insists on Chief Justice post<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Shaking off rumors of sex and financial
\nscandals, former justice minister Muladi told a \"fit and proper\"
\nhearing for new justices at the House of Representatives on
\nMonday that he wants no less than the top Supreme Court job.<\/p>\n
Muladi, who served under both former presidents Soeharto and
\nB.J. Habibie, turned the long-running hearings for candidates for
\nSupreme Court justice into a lively debate, not only because of
\nthe various allegations leveled against him, but also because of
\nhis insistence on taking the number one spot.<\/p>\n
Muladi told the House's working committee that he would not
\ntake anything less than the chief justice job, saying that he
\ncould not perform well as an ordinary member of the Court.<\/p>\n
Muladi, who was nominated by Golkar Party chairman Akbar
\nTandjung, is one of the top contenders to replace Chief Justice
\nSarwata, who retires next month. The other main contender is
\nBenjamin Mangkoedilaga, a former judge with a clean reputation,
\nwho was nominated by President Abdurrahman Wahid.<\/p>\n
Muladi, among the last 46 candidates to be grilled on Monday,
\ndid not even try to conceal his contempt for Benjamin.<\/p>\n
\"What would I do if Benjamin became chief? I would walk out!\"
\nsaid the law professor who is now active in the Habibie Center.<\/p>\n
\"If I become chief, it will be my last (legal) posting... I
\nwill do my best to restore the Supreme Court's dignity and
\nauthority.<\/p>\n
\"If I fail in the first three years ... I will resign,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Muladi's face turned red when a House member confronted him
\nwith a report alleging that he once had an affair with the wife
\nof a military officer during a trip to Italy.<\/p>\n
He quickly collected his composure and went on the offensive,
\nsaying that the allegation was \"the most scurrilous slander ever
\nperpetrated against me.\"<\/p>\n
\"Just because I went to an international conference in Cairo,
\nor other places with women or talked with a woman at the airport,
\ndoesn't mean I was having an affair,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said such rumors of impropriety could have been made
\nagainst him during his time at the Diponegoro University in
\nSemarang because as a lecturer he was always surrounded by female
\nstudents and assistants.<\/p>\n
Another report reaching the committee claimed that Muladi
\nowned five lots of land in Semarang which he failed to report to
\nthe working committee.<\/p>\n
Muladi responded that he owned three lots, which he had bought
\nat a bargain price because they were vacant and infertile.<\/p>\n
The House's working committee also accused Muladi of
\npartiality and of ignoring many violations of the law during his
\nterm as justice minister.<\/p>\n
Muladi insisted he had done his utmost, and pointed at the 67
\npieces of legislation enacted during his brief service in the
\nCabinet -- from March 1998 to October 1999 -- as a remarkable
\nachievement.<\/p>\n
Observers following the hearing closely meanwhile condemned
\nMuladi's demand for the chief justice job as improper.<\/p>\n
Teten Masduki of Indonesian Corruption Watch accused Muladi of
\nhaving a \"hidden agenda\" in wanting the job so desperately.<\/p>\n
Teten regretted that the working committee failed to ask
\nMuladi about his role as non-litigation chief of the legal team
\nfor high-ranking military and police officers in the ongoing
\ninvestigation of human rights violations in East Timor.<\/p>\n
\"They should have questioned him on this. Muladi has a weak
\nvision on human rights,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Teten added that the wealth of candidates for judicial
\nappointments should be independently audited and not solely
\nquestioned at the hearing.<\/p>\n
Noted human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis, who turned down
\na nomination to serve in the Supreme Court, said Muladi's demand
\nfor the top law job was \"unethical\"<\/p>\n
Mulya blasted the working committee for failing to ask the big
\nquestions about the respective visions of the candidates.<\/p>\n
\"One hour is not enough to screen someone; the questions were
\nnot focused and failed to draw the candidates out in explaining
\ntheir visions and missions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Mulya, who has been following the hearings for all 46
\ncandidates since they began on Thursday, said that in his
\nopinion, only two or three candidates survived the test.<\/p>\n
Gde Soedharta, a career judge who was taking the test, fumbled
\nwhen asked about the rampant practice of judges accepting gifts
\nfrom members of the public.<\/p>\n
Soedharta insisted that taking a \"thank you\" gift after a
\nverdict was passed did not violate the judges' oath.<\/p>\n
\"Giving gifts to show your gratitude is considered a courtesy
\nhere in the East. It's all right to accept such gifts after the
\ncase has been settled,\" he argued. (bby\/jun)<\/p>",
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