Bribery among

Bribery among law enforcers

From Media Indonesia

Media Indonesia of April 26, 2002, reported that the Honorary Council for the Indonesian Lawyers Working Committee (KKAI) would examine Elza Syarief on bribery charges. This plan should be given a thumbs-up by the country's people as KKAI has been proactive in responding to issues now widely spread within the community.

People will surely wait for the result of Elza's examination by lawyers with a level of integrity equal to that of Bang Buyung. Such a bribery case once happened to a senior lawyer, Syarief Siregar, in Medan. He bribed a ball player and held a hunger strike when detained by the police. The district court only gave him a light sentence as the bribery he had committed was beyond his practice. In the case of Elza, she allegedly resorted to bribery while carrying out her profession.

Talking about bribery in the four law-enforcing circles of judges, public prosecutors, police and lawyers in this country is the same as discussing breakfast and dinner. It means that bribery has become daily talk in the community. However, law upholds credible proof or evidence. It takes a long time to prove that bribery has taken place. And, the people who know best about this case are those who commit it.

The country does not possess a law on lawyers yet. This explains why today the lawyers' code of conduct is the reference. Yet, the morality of the perpetrators is still a big question. The late lawyer Rusdi Nurima once said that if he wanted to play with money among law enforcers, he would surely win all cases he handled. In other words, let a court ruling/verdict run as the prevailing law dictates.

It was the late Napoleon Bonaparte that had modified the Code de Ethique, Code de Penal and the Code de Commerce. Perhaps, given the increased violations of the code of conduct of lawyers in this country, he would be depressed and shake his head up there in heaven.

TOM MUSTAFA SIREGAR

Jakarta