Sanctions recommended for West Java judges<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Judicial Commission recommended that the head of the West
\nJava High Court Nana Juwana, who led the panel of judges in the
\nDepok mayoral election dispute, be suspended for a year.<\/p>\n
As for the rest of the judges on the panel -- Hadi Lelana,
\nSopyan Royan, Rata Kembaren and Ginalita Silitonga, they are to
\nbe reprimanded.<\/p>\n
"The judges of the High Court have erred in their ways. Their
\nconduct was unprofessional," said commission chairman Busyro
\nMuqoddas reading a statement at the Ministry of Justice and Human
\nRights on Thursday.<\/p>\n
This the first case handled by the commission, set up last
\nmonth with the main mission of supervising judges in the country
\nand to recommend punishment for errant or poor-performing judges
\nto be followed up by the Supreme Court or the Constitutional
\nCourt. The punishment may range from a warning letter to
\ndismissal.<\/p>\n
The West Java High Court annulled in August the victory of Nur
\nMahmudi Ismail of Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) in the June 26
\nelection for Depok mayor, and instead declared Golkar Party
\ncandidate Badrul Kamal the winner.<\/p>\n
The court ruled that 27,782 votes had been incorrectly given
\nto Nur Mahmudi, and 62,770 votes taken away from Badrul.<\/p>\n
The verdict drew protests from the PKS and many political
\nanalysts as it was based on evidence presented only by witnesses
\nbelieved to be Badrul's supporters. No witnesses from Nur
\nMahmudi's side were summoned to testify at the hearing.<\/p>\n
According to Busyro, the judges violated Article 106 Paragraph
\n4 of Law No. 32\/2004 on regional administration, which stipulates
\nthat any dispute in a regional election should be settled within
\n14 days.<\/p>\n
The suit was filed on July 12, but the ruling was not handed
\ndown until Aug. 4, thereby exceeding the time limit.<\/p>\n
The complaint filed by Golkar also exceeded the three day
\nlimit as the result of the election was announced on July 6, said
\nBusyro.<\/p>\n
The High Court had also acted beyond its authority by
\ninvestigating vote markups or fictitious voters, which is the
\nresponsibility of the regional election supervisory committee.<\/p>\n
"The authority of the High Court is only in connection with
\nthe vote counting," Busyro said as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
He further said the five judges also violated the principle of
\nimpartiality in handing down a verdict as they did not consider
\nevidence from the Depok Regional Election Commission (KPUD
\nDepok).<\/p>\n
The judges have also based their verdict on assumption instead
\nof authentic evidence.<\/p>\n
During the investigation by the Judicial Commission, Busyro
\nsaid, Nana Juwana was not cooperative as he was reluctant to
\nanswer certain questions, saying that he was asked by the Supreme
\nCourt not to share several things related to the ruling.<\/p>\n
He said that it was now up to the Supreme Court whether to
\nimplement the Judicial Commission's recommendations.<\/p>\n
The recommendations come as Supreme Court judges are set to
\ndecide on the judicial review of the West Java High Court ruling
\nfiled by KPUD Depok.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sanctions-recommended-for-west-java-judges-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}