Chief justice defies KPK summons in bribery case
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Supreme Court chief Bagir Manan refused to appear at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for questioning on Monday in connection with a bribery case implicating him and former president Soeharto's half-brother Probosutedjo.
Bagir's deputy for judicial affairs, justice Marianna Sutadi, said that her boss would be ready to attend a summons only after he was notified by the KPK about the subject of the inquiry beforehand.
"If the chief justice knows what the KPK wants, then he will explain everything," Marianna told the press after a Supreme Court leadership meeting chaired by Bagir, who refused to speak to journalists.
During the news conference, she was accompanied by deputy chief justice for non-judicial affairs Syamsuhadi Irsyad, and other justices including Iskandar Kamil, Harifin A. Tumpa, German Hoediarto, Andi Syamsu Alam and Abdul Kadir Mappong.
Marianna declined to confirm whether the Supreme Court leadership had asked the KPK to send a list of questions that they wished to ask Bagir.
Separately, the Judicial Commission lashed out at Bagir for defying the KPK's summons.
"I think asking for lists of questions before giving statements (to the KPK) is wrong," said Irawady Joenoes, Judicial Commission coordinator for supervising judges' honor, morality and conduct.
He said the Judicial Commission would go ahead with its plan to summon Bagir in relation to the same case.
Despite Bagir's failure to show up, Marianna claimed that the Supreme Court was still committed to supporting the KPK's inquiry into the bribery case that allegedly involve Bagir and other justices and staff of the court.
Bagir, whose offices had been raided by KPK investigators searching for evidence on the bribery allegations, had earlier declared that he was ready to be questioned by the commission.
According to the KPK summons handed to Bagir last week, his questioning was scheduled for Monday morning.
Instead of answering the summons, however, Bagir chose to chair the Supreme Court leadership meeting at his office to discuss efforts to "eradicate trading of legal cases within the courts".
He also summoned justice Usman Karim, who had been questioned by the KPK over the same case, to his office over media reports that accused him of receiving Rp 1 billion (US$100,000) from Probosutedjo through the chief justice's brother living in Lampung.
Bagir has consistently denied the bribery accusations against him.
He led a panel of judges, including Usman and Parman Suparman, who dealt with Probosutedjo's appeal against his corruption conviction.
Bagir scrapped the panel and set up a new one after the bribery allegations created widespread public concern.
Probosutedjo has confessed to have disbursed some Rp 16 billion since he was convicted by the Central Jakarta District Court over a graft case that cost the state some Rp 100 billion in losses.
Of the funds, Rp 10 billion was apparently paid when his case was heard at the district court and the appeal courts. Some Rp 6 billion had been given to his lawyer, Harini Wijoso, who allegedly encouraged him to bribe Supreme Court officials so as to overturn the two-year jail sentence handed down by the lower courts.
Probosutedjo said he was told by Harini that Rp 5 billion of the funds were to be given to Bagir.
The bribery affair was uncovered after the KPK arrested five employees of the Supreme Court as well as Harini, a judge-turned- lawyer, and confiscated some $400,000 and Rp 800 million in cash, which was supposedly going to be used to bribe judges in order to win the appeal.