Probe into justices over bribery case continues<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman affirmed on
\nWednesday that the Joint Anticorruption Team (TGPTPK) would
\ncontinue to investigate a bribery case in which two serving and
\none retired Supreme Court justices have been implicated.<\/p>\n
He said that although the Supreme Court on March 23 annulled a
\ngovernment regulation in lieu of law which had been the legal
\ngrounds for the establishment of the joint team, it still had
\nanother three months before the court's decision took effect.<\/p>\n
\"The joint team is still investigating the bribery case,\" he
\ntold The Jakarta Post by phone.<\/p>\n
The attorney general is coordinator of the team.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, the Central Jakarta District Court was
\nforced to adjourn the trial of a defamation lawsuit filed by the
\ntwo serving justices as defendant Endin Wahyudin, who had earlier
\nreported the three suspects to the anticorruption team, failed to
\nshow up.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Hasan Madani told the court a subpoena had been
\nsent last Wednesday to Endin at his residence in Bandung advising
\nhim to appear in court. The prosecutor said he had not received a
\nresponse from the defendant.<\/p>\n
Hasan told journalists that Endin was charged under the
\nCriminal Code's Article 311 on slander which carries a maximum
\nsentence of four years in prison.<\/p>\n
Judge Saparuddin, acting on behalf of presiding judge
\nAmiruddin who was attending a human rights tribunal course,
\nadjourned the trial until April 23.<\/p>\n
Endin reported to the government-sanctioned Anticorruption
\nTeam last year that retired Justice M. Yahya Harahap and justices
\nSupraptini Sutarto and Marnis Kahar were involved in a Rp 196
\nmillion (US$19,600) bribery case.<\/p>\n
Endin said he delivered Rp 96 million in cash to Justice
\nHarahap's residence, while Supraptini and Marnis received Rp 50
\nmillion each at their offices in November 1998. He alleged that
\nthey had been paid to rule in favor of Sunata Sumali alias
\nSunanham in a dispute over a 17,000-square-meter plot of land in
\nthe West Java capital of Bandung against plaintiff Aminah.<\/p>\n
Supraptini and Marnis then filed a complaint with the National
\nPolice against Endin for slander. They also said that Endin had
\nnothing to do with the land dispute handled by the three
\njustices.<\/p>\n
The two also reported then TGPTPK chairman Adi Andojo
\nSoetjipto for defamation to the police.<\/p>\n
Supraptini and Marnis' defense team claimed on Wednesday that
\nEndin did not qualify as a witness in the bribery case since he
\nwas involved in the case. They also claimed that the defendant
\nwas a middle man who acted as a mediator between judges and those
\ninvolved in a case.<\/p>\n
The lawyers also claimed that Endin had retracted his
\nstatement on the alleged bribery case in a letter sent to Marzuki
\non April 4. In the letter, he apparently apologized for his
\nmistake and any oversight regarding his report on the three
\njustices to TGPTPK.<\/p>\n
\"As a logical consequence of this new fact, the Attorney
\nGeneral's Office should stop its investigation,\" lawyer John
\nWaliry said after the trial, adding that his clients were willing
\nto continue with the trial.<\/p>\n
Marzuki said he had not received Endin's letter.<\/p>\n
Andojo, who resigned from his post in TGPTPK after saying
\nthere was a lack of support for the team, said that even if Endin
\nwithdrew his statement, the investigation should go on because it
\ndealt with corruption.<\/p>\n
Andojo told the Post that Endin had initially refused to sign
\nhis statement, but later agreed after being told of the legal
\nconsequences of hampering an investigation.<\/p>\n
Supraptini and Marnis had earlier filed with the Central
\nJakarta District Court a motion questioning the legal status of
\nthe joint team to conduct such an investigation.<\/p>\n
Last September, the court ordered the joint team to drop its
\ninvestigation into the case, saying that the team had acted
\nbeyond its authority by probing corruption cases that took place
\nprior to 1999.<\/p>\n
The antigraft team, which was set up by Marzuki and inducted
\nby President Abdurrahman Wahid in May 2000, is an embryo
\norganization of the Commission to Eradicate Corruption mandated
\nby the 1999 anticorruption law.<\/p>\n
The team has made it a priority to eradicate corruption in the
\njudicial system, including the Supreme Court and district courts.
\n(bby)<\/p>",
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