Syafiuddin was a quiet, humble person: Family<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Before Thursday, one could only have imagined it
\nas a scene from the movie The Godfather or from a John Grisham
\nnovel.<\/p>\n
A judge, who handled top criminal cases and was renowned for
\nrefusing bribes, was assassinated in broad daylight during
\nmorning rush hour.<\/p>\n
It would not happen here, we all thought - maybe in Sicily,
\nbut not here.<\/p>\n
But on Thursday morning, Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita
\nwas fatally shot in the head and chest, while driving to work at
\nthe Supreme Court. He was 61 years old.<\/p>\n
It was a shock, particularly for fellow law enforcers.<\/p>\n
Syafiuddin's last position was deputy chief justice for
\ngeneral crimes.<\/p>\n
He headed the panel of judges that sentenced former president
\nSoeharto's son Hutomo \"Tommy\" Mandala Putra, who is still at
\nlarge.<\/p>\n
He was also a member of the panel of justices who freed
\nSoeharto from house arrest and stipulated that the defendant
\nshould be tried once he was fit. Syafiuddin also sentenced the
\nformer president's golfing buddy, Mohammad \"Bob\" Hasan.<\/p>\n
Syafiuddin had reportedly complained about how people often
\ntried to offer him bribes.<\/p>\n
\"Bapak (father) never discussed any case he was handling with
\nus,\" Syafiuddin's only son, Aries Achdiat, 25, told The Jakarta
\nPost on Friday.<\/p>\n
His eyes were red and his face was weary, but he was calm, no
\nlonger distraught as he was earlier on Thursday when he saw his
\nfather's body.<\/p>\n
Aries continued that his two sisters, Anna Maria, 31 and Aida
\nAgra Putri, 18 and himself only found out about the cases handled
\nby his father from newspapers.<\/p>\n
\"After that we asked him about it, but he only gave brief
\ninformation,\" said Aries, a law school graduate.<\/p>\n
\"He was just like that. Quiet, never talked much. But we got
\nalong well... He always gave us our freedom, what we wanted to do
\nor to be,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Aries then recalled how his family moved from town to town,
\nfollowing Syafiuddin's post as a judge before settling in the
\ncapital in the late 1980s.<\/p>\n
He paused for a moment when asked about the most memorable
\nfather-son moment.<\/p>\n
\"We used to fish a lot, before I went to university. But then
\nwe both became busy. We didn't live in the same house anymore,\"
\nsaid Aries, who now works in a law consultants office.<\/p>\n
He said that the last time he saw his father before the
\ntragedy was two weeks earlier and added that there was no hunch
\nor sign that his father was going to die.<\/p>\n
Aries has been living with his younger sister in a house his
\nfather bought in Depok to be near his former campus at the
\nUniversity of Indonesia. While Syafiuddin lived in the judicial
\nauthorities' housing complex in Sunter, North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"We leave it up to God, now. Yes, we are still shocked, but
\nthere's nothing else we can do...,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people came to Syafiuddin's house on Friday to
\nmourn.<\/p>\n
Relatives and family who had not seen him for years poured
\ninto the house, to pay their last respects to the man they
\ndescribed as \"quiet and modest\".<\/p>\n
\"He was a deputy judge when we were posted in Ciamis, West
\nJava. Syafiuddin never talked much, but worked hard. We worked
\ntogether for just six months before he was promoted,\" said a
\ncolleague named Ruwiyanto, who is now retired.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Syafiuddin's younger brother Saman Kartasasmita
\nsaid that his late brother, while quiet, got along well with
\nanyone, including drivers and maids.<\/p>\n
\"But he never used a driver even though his office provided
\nthis facility. He always drove himself. The driver was usually
\nfor his wife, So'imah,\" Saman told the Post.<\/p>\n
Saman added that the family did not intend to sue anyone or
\npress police to investigate the case.<\/p>\n
\"There are many cases that are important, but are never
\nsolved. We entrust it to God. We see it as a risk that came with
\nthe job. It's like the police who risk getting shot by robbers,
\nwe see it that way,\" he said. (hdn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/syafiuddin-was-a-quiet-humble-person-family-1447893297",
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