Supreme Court muddies waters in Akbar case<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Supreme Court (MA) justices handling House of Representatives
\nSpeaker Akbar Tandjung's appeal of his corruption conviction,
\nconfused court observers on Monday by releasing conflicting
\nstatements on when they would issue a decision on the appeal.<\/p>\n
\"I told you we haven't finished hearing the case,\" Justice
\nPaulus Effendy Lotulung, who leads the panel of five justices
\nhearing Akbar's appeal, said.<\/p>\n
He said he had yet to obtain complete legal opinions from
\npanel members Parman Suparman, Arbijoto, Muchsin and Abdul Rahman
\nSaleh.<\/p>\n
According to the court's procedures, the head of the panel of
\njustices must obtain legal opinions from each panel member before
\ndeciding whether to hear an appeal.<\/p>\n
However, Abdul Rahman said Paulus had earlier told the four
\nother justices on the panel to meet this week to debate Akbar's
\nappeal.<\/p>\n
\"He told us to schedule our meeting. It was supposed to be
\nthis Monday, but we were too busy,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Akbar, who is also chairman of the country's second largest
\npolitical party, Golkar, filed an appeal with the Supreme Court
\nover his three-year jail sentence for corruption. If the court
\nrejects his appeal, it would put an end to Akbar's presidential
\nambitions.<\/p>\n
Abdul Rahman, former head of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute,
\nhad said a decision on Akbar's appeal was due this week.<\/p>\n
The Supreme Court has rarely made public its decisions on
\nappeals, despite a stipulation in the Criminal Code Procedures
\n(KUHAP) that all decisions must be made public.<\/p>\n
Because there are no courtrooms in the Supreme Court building,
\njustices usually present their decision in one of the justices'
\nrooms. To fulfill the KUHAP requirement, they leave the door to
\nthe room open.<\/p>\n
Anyone who wanders onto the hearing can stop and listen in.
\nHowever, because the Supreme Court does not publish a schedule of
\nits cases, it is impossible to follow a specific case.<\/p>\n
Legal observers have asked the Supreme Court to hold open
\nhearings of Akbar's case. The court has yet to issue an official
\nresponse to the requests.<\/p>\n
Justice Paulus refused to say whether the hearing would be
\nopen or not, saying he had to discuss the matter with other panel
\nmembers.<\/p>\n
However, several court officials rejected the idea, saying
\nsupporters and opponents of Akbar could show up and cause chaos.<\/p>\n
\"It's okay if journalists come, but not regular people,\" an
\nofficial said.<\/p>\n
A number of groups that either support or oppose Akbar have
\nheld almost weekly demonstrations in front of the Supreme Court
\nbuilding since Akbar filed his appeal last year.<\/p>\n
Justice Abdul Rahman said he would not trust anyone to deliver
\nhis written legal opinion on Akbar's appeal to Paulus.<\/p>\n
\"I will hand it over myself. It's too risky,\" he said.<\/p>\n
And to avoid any possible information leaks of the verdict,
\nPaulus has said that he will type the verdict himself, Abdul
\nRahman said.<\/p>\n
On-going speculation over the long-awaited decision in Akbar's
\ngraft case is due to his position as the chairman of the Golkar
\nParty and his status as a potential presidential nominee.<\/p>\n
His political career depends on the decision. If the Supreme
\nCourt rules in favor of Akbar, he will likely become the lone
\npresidential nominee from Golkar.<\/p>\n
Because the Supreme Court's decision is final, if the court
\nrejects the appeal Akbar's sentence must be immediately executed,
\neffectively putting an end to his political career.<\/p>\n
A lower court found Akbar guilty of embezzling Rp 40 billion
\nfrom the State Logistics Agency, sentencing him to three years in
\njail.<\/p>",
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