Bagir denies bribery allegation

Bagir denies bribery allegation

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Supreme Court chief Bagir Manan on Friday denied allegations
that he received payoff money that was given via the Court's
officials.

"I would never take bribes. I have never heard that there was
an amount of money prepared for me," he said, as quoted by
detik.com.

Earlier, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested
five officials of the Supreme Court and a judge-turned-lawyer,
Harini Wiyoso, for their alleged involvement in a case of
bribery.

Harini Wiyoso was a member of the legal team for businessman
and cousin of the country's former president Soeharto,
Probosutedjo, who was convicted for abusing reforestation funds
that caused the state over Rp 100 billion (about US$10 million)
in losses.

KPK officials confiscated sums of $400,000 and Rp 800 million,
which they believed were to be used as bribes to win an appeal
case.

Harini's lawyer, Firman Wijaya, said Thursday that her client
had prepared $500,000 to be given to Bagir Manan, who is also a
member of the panel of judges in Probosutedjo's appeal.

"The money was prepared by my client to accelerate the process
of issuing the verdict," Firman said, adding that his client was
ready to be confronted with the arrested officials to disclose
the real motive behind the bribery.

Bagir denied the allegations, saying that it was a desperate
move from someone who would face a tough sentence if convicted.

"I only met Harini once. I met her because she was a former
high court judge. But when she mentioned Probosutedjo's case, I
refused to talk about it. In principal, the Supreme Court chief
isn't allowed to discuss cases that are being tried," he said.

"Therefore, I am ready to be investigated by the KPK and I
will also provide wide access for the KPK to undertake their
investigations into my institution," he said.

Indonesian Judicial Monitoring Society chairman Asep Rahmat
Fajar said that to prove himself innocent Bagir must allow either
the KPK or the Judicial Commission to question the Supreme Court
officials.

"The case proves that buying court verdicts has been a
systematic and organized crime in the country's legal system. It
involves people from the highest levels, such as high court
judges, down to the lowest levels, such as administrative staff
in the Supreme Court," Asep told The Jakarta Post.

"To prove himself innocent, the chief justice must give full
support for further investigations against his officials," he
said.

Besides urging Bagir to fully support the KPK's effort to uncover
the case, the Jakarta branch of the Indonesian Bar Association
also recommended that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
temporary suspend Bagir from his post.

"To allow an objective investigation to take place, it would
be better that the President himself should take over command of
the court," said the association in a media statement.