Six accept Supreme Court nominations<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): At least six people have accepted the
\ngovernment's offer to nominate them as supreme justices to the
\nSupreme Court.<\/p>\n
The six are former judge Benjamin Mangkoedilaga, lawyers
\nTodung Mulya Lubis and Ronggur Hutagalung, constitutional law
\nprofessor Bagir Manan, legal expert Rizal Kabah and former
\nchairman of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute Abdurrahman Saleh.<\/p>\n
"We've contacted them. They accepted the nomination," Minister
\nof Law and Legal Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra said here on
\nMonday.<\/p>\n
He said other candidates the government wanted to nominate
\ncould not yet be contacted. For example Yogyakarta-based
\nIndonesian Islamic University rector Mahfud MD because he was
\naway on the Haj pilgrimage.<\/p>\n
According to Yusril the government planned to nominate a total
\nof 20 candidates to the Supreme Court who are noncareer justices.<\/p>\n
"Ten people are legal practitioners and the remaining are
\nlegal experts," he added.<\/p>\n
Yusril said the government did not nominate former justice
\nminister Muladi as the Golkar Party has already indicated that
\nthey would nominate him through the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
But the chairman of the National Awakening Party's (PKB)
\nfaction at the House, Taufiqurrahman Saleh, rejected the idea of
\nnominating Muladi, saying that the close B.J. Habibie associate
\nwas linked to the past regime.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Taufiqurrahman said it would not be prudent to
\nnominate the legal consultant for military officers alleged to be
\nresponsible for human rights abuses in East Timor.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court itself last week submitted a list of 24
\ncandidates to the House, without Benjamin's name.<\/p>\n
Several senior justices at the Supreme Court earlier
\nthreatened to quit, saying that Benjamin was "too junior".<\/p>\n
President Abdurrahman Wahid has repeatedly expressed his
\nintention to nominate Benjamin, who was known for rejecting a ban
\non the Tempo weekly magazine by the government under former
\npresident Soeharto, in a bid to clean and reform the Supreme
\nCourt which is considered by many as a fertile breeding ground
\nfor corruption and collusion practices. (jun)<\/p>",
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