Bakin monitors courts to prevent collusion

Bakin monitors courts to prevent collusion

JAKARTA (JP): The chief of the State Intelligence Coordinating
Board (Bakin), Lt. Gen. Moetojib, said yesterday that his
personnel were monitoring courts in an effort to eradicate
collusion and corruption practices.

"The board's members have been deployed (in courts) and of
course nobody knows about their activities," Moetojib said here
after attending a seminar titled Toward Just and Professional Law
Enforcers.

The two-day seminar was opened yesterday by Minister of
Justice Muladi and attended by Chief Justice Sarwata, Attorney
General Soedjono C. Atmonegoro, National Police Chief Gen. Dibyo
Widodo, representatives of non-governmental organizations and
dozens of lawyers.

Moetojib, however, said that Bakin would not interfere in the
judiciary's independence. He said the monitoring was only an
effort to battle the rampant collusion and corruption practices
in courts that have prompted some observers to describe them as a
"mafia."

He admitted that now that his agency's activities were known,
some parties would object to the monitoring by Bakin officers and
consider it an interference.

"We must absolutely comply with the minister of justice's
warning to respect the judiciary's independence," Moetojib said.

Muladi said last month the country's judiciary could build a
respected and effective legal system only if it was free from
intervention from the executive and legislative branches.

"Disruption of judicial independence through collusion and
corruption practices must be considered a miscarriage of
justice," Muladi said in a speech he wrote in his own
handwriting.

He said the judicial branch must therefore be supported by
certain values which included professionalism, altruism and a
code of ethics.

He acknowledged the country's judiciary was still tarnished by
illegal practices, committed by both individuals or people in
small groups.

Those groups, he said, had the potential to alter an
integrated administration of justice into an "integrated
miscarriage of justice."

"The judicial system, which is still marred by disgraceful
practices, has been eroding the credibility of the political
system," said Muladi, who is also a member of the National
Commission on Human Rights.

Muladi said the seminar was part of a long journey of a moral
movement which was trying to revive the basic values of the law.

"We must be optimistic as efforts to abolish illegal practices
in the courts have a strong philosophical, cultural and
constitutional basis," Muladi said.

Muladi said the seminar was aimed at identifying the crime
rate, policies to repress and prevent crimes and ways to improve
coordination among law enforcers.

The Jakarta Police sparked controversy over its legal right to
probe graft in December when officers questioned three just-
dismissed directors of the central bank for alleged corruption.

At the time, former attorney general Singgih was sure that the
police had invaded his jurisdiction. The police, however, fired
back by saying they had the legal right to act as they did.

The police said their authority as investigators to probe any
crimes was stipulated by the Criminal Code Procedures and also
supported by the new National Police Law.

Muladi has said that the Ministry of Justice is committed to
unifying views among various institutions on matters related to
law enforcement. (byg)