Conservative university puts a liberal at the helm

SEMARANG (JP): A lawyer who believes in justice, freedom and human rights has brought a breath of fresh air to Diponegoro University, one of the country's most prestigious state-run schools, when he was installed its rector on Wednesday.

Born in Salatiga, Central Java in 1943, Muladi is expected to bring changes into the university which is considered "conservative" compared to other state-run universities such as the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, the Bandung Institute of Technology in Bandung and the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta.

His concern for justice is why so much hope is placed on him to bring his college into closer contact with the real world and everyday issues.

The youngest of three children, Muladi never even dreamed of studying at a university. Today, not only is he a rector of one of the oldest universities in the country, he has a reputation which has earned the respect of peers and students.

When he was deputy chairman of the Central Java Golkar branch, for example, he spoke against the government's policy to bar leading critics from leaving the country.

"I'm a law professor and I never understood the criteria for the blacklisting," was his statement then.

His latest concern is for a balance between independence and fair trials.

"There should be a balance between independence and fair trials in a court room. Judges should be independent in order for them to conduct a fair trial," said Muladi, who is the first alumni of the university to be its rector.

Muladi, a graduate of the university's law school, is also a member of the National Commission on Human Rights who has been fighting hard for an inquiry into the Marsinah trial.

He made the controversial suggestion last month that the trials of the suspected murderers of labor activist Marsinah be stopped to protect the integrity of the courts.

He put forth his suggestion as members of the Commission worked hard to find new evidence that there were violations of human rights during the questioning of the suspects.

The Commission launched the probe despite opposition from many parties which argued that it had no right to make inquiries into the case.

"The Commission has every right to probe a case if there is an indication of a violation of human rights. Those (opposing) remarks came from people who are worried because they are used to committing human rights violations," said Muladi.

He said some countries have human rights courts which process human rights violations, adding that he hoped one day there would be such courts here.

Muladi said he honors judges who could stand up for what they believe but loathes corrupt ones.

"In the Surabaya case, if the judge was not bribed, then he was a professional who stood for his beliefs. In a situation like that, he made a decision which could draw assumptions, especially negative ones," Muladi said.

He was referring to the acquittal of three businessmen of tax evasion charges by a judge at the Surabaya District Court in East Java. Sarwono, the presiding judge in the case, was accused of receiving bribes from the defendants.

Commenting on the increasing number of crimes lately, Muladi blamed them on the failure of the security system.

"It is not merely the police's failure, but a collective failure. Let's refer to the Emergency Law No.12/1951, which prohibits people from carrying fire arms and sharp weapons. The law is outdated and needs to be renewed by the House of Representatives," Muladi said.

He explained that there are still many people who carry those weapons, which shows that the law is not working anymore.

In response to reports that the military is handling the killing of Brig. Gen. TMF Tampubolon by four men in Jakarta last week, Muladi said the police should take over the case especially since the Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Feisal Tanjung himself has said that the killing is a pure criminal act.

"The police should handle the case. Only if there's an indication of a political scheme does the army has the right to conduct an investigation," said Muladi.

When asked about what his policy will be in new office, Muladi said he would increase the quality of the university lecturers to produce high quality graduates.

Currently, Diponegoro University has only one graduate program and that is for the law school. The others are for undergraduate programs.

"The quality of a university can be measured by its graduate school," he said. "One of my targets as rector is to open more graduate and post graduate schools." (yns)