Antigraft court officially begins operation
Muninggar Sri Saraswati Fabiola Desy Unidjaja The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri swore in a team of nine non- career judges on Thursday, which will try high-profile corruption cases involving state officials.
The installation of the judges, which had been delayed for unexplained reasons, means the much-awaited Anticorruption Court has officially opened.
The nine judges, who took an oath before Megawati, were M.S. Lumme, Hamrat Hamid, Krisna Harahap, As'adi Al Ma'ruf, Sudiro, Abdurrahman Hasan, Dudu Duswara, I Made Hendra Kesuma and Achmad Linoh.
Along with six career judges, they will be assigned to hear corruption cases at the district courts and higher courts. A panel of five judges will be assigned at each level.
All the 15 judges are currently completing special training conducted by the Supreme Court in Jakarta.
Megawati issued a presidential decree on the establishment of the Anticorruption Court last month, but it could not be made operational until after the nine non-career judges were installed.
Under the prevailing law, it is the president, not the Supreme Court chief, who is authorized to swear in judges for the Anticorruption Court.
The court has the authority to deal with high-profile graft cases brought in by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
Thursday's installation of judges was attended by newly elected House of Representatives speaker Agung Laksono and Regional Representatives Council (DPD) chairman Ginandjar Kartasasmita. Interim coordinating minister for political and security affairs Hari Sabarno was also among those present.
Separately, KPK chairman Taufiqurrahman Ruki immediately announced on Thursday that his office would soon submit two-high profile graft cases to the court.
The two cases included a Rp 4 billion (US$444,444) case implicating Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Governor Abdullah Puteh who is charged with marking up the price of a Russian helicopter for his administration.
The other case involves Harun Letlet and Capt. Tarsisius Walla, both current officials at the Ministry of Communications.
The two have been named suspects in a graft scam over the construction of a seaport in Maluku, which caused an estimated Rp 10 billion in state losses.
Deputy KPK chairman Tumpak Hatorangan Panggabean said that his office would name more suspects in the case against Governor Puteh, who also heads the civil emergency administration in Aceh.
"We have found convincing evidence, but we'll split the case files (of Puteh and other suspects)," he told a press conference.
Tumpak said the commission is expected to hand over those cases to the court this month at the latest. "But, we will visit the court first to observe whether the judges are prepared to accept the cases or not."
Before the press conference, the KPK chairman installed 10 officials to head important posts in the commission, which had been left vacant since its establishment late last year.
Among the 10 were Waluyo, a former senior official with a foreign oil company who was appointed as deputy chairman of the corruption prevention division, and M. Syamsa Ardisasmita, a former National Atomic Energy Agency (Batan) head who was sworn in as the KPK deputy chairman for information systems and data.
Other officials included Junino Jahja, a former finance director of private telecommunication firm Indosat who was sworn in as KPK deputy chairman for internal monitoring and public complaints.
The commission only deals with corruption cases involving state officials and a minimum of Rp 1 billion.
The KPK is also tasked with monitoring and preventing corruption practices in Indonesia.
However, due to what experts and its members say is lack of support from the government, a vacuum in qualified personnel and financial difficulties, the commission has not been able to do its best for the nation.