RI's legal system too timid<\/p>\n
For the record, judges in Indonesia have been showing some
\nbackbone lately. The trouble is, as much as they've been lauded
\nfor a willingness to render tough decisions, they've also been
\ncriticized for the perceived leniency of the sentences they hand
\nout.<\/p>\n
First there was the former governor of East Timor, who was
\nfound guilty of failing to prevent human-rights abuses by his
\nsubordinates and handed a three-year sentence. Then there was
\nTommy Soeharto's 15-year sentence for ordering the assassination
\nof a judge. Now, Golkar bigwig and parliamentary speaker Akbar
\nTandjung has been slapped with a three-year sentence in a
\ncorruption case involving Rp 40 billion -- about US$4 million --
\nof funds from the state logistics agency, Bulog. Akbar maintains
\nhis innocence and is appealing the court decision.<\/p>\n
What happened in the Akbar case? For months, the Bulog funds
\nmeant for the poor were alleged to have been used by Golkar. Yet
\nwhen the case came to trial, the alleged connection with Golkar
\nwas not pursued. One of Akbar's two co-defendants said he had
\nstashed away the money, and then paid it all back. Bizarre as all
\nthis was, prosecutors decided not to pursue any possible money
\ntrail.<\/p>\n
As Indonesia's legal system starts to move towards reform, the
\nnext hurdle to overcome is the timidity of judges and
\nprosecutors. Whenever prudent, Indonesians should be able to
\nexpect their prosecutors to pursue cases forcefully, and for
\njudges to be tough. Still, there is no shortage of opportunity
\nfor the legal system to prove itself. A start has been made; it
\nneeds to be pushed along.<\/p>\n
-- The Far Eastern Economic Review, Hong Kong<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ris-legal-system-too-timid-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }