Controversial policy over arrest status
By Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak
JAKARTA (JP): Not every criminal goes to jail and not every suspect is detained.
But do not ask why. The consideration can be very subjective, as reflected in several cases, including former president Soeharto, his son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, and his long-time friend Mohamad "Bob" Hasan.
On Feb. 2, the Supreme Court decided that Soeharto was too sick to stand trial and thus lifted his city arrest.
In the evening of the same day, the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced Hasan to two years for corruption but placed him under house arrest.
Worse still, Tommy, who was convicted of corruption last November, is now still at large.
During Soeharto's initial investigation, state prosecutors put him under city arrest, but then they imposed a house arrest status on the suspect, who was not in good health. Prosecutors believed then that putting Soeharto under house arrest would aid an improvement in his health.
Soeharto, 79, was put under house arrest until his case was brought to the South Jakarta District Court. The court later decided that Soeharto was too sick for the trial, and lifted the house arrest.
The Jakarta High Court later ordered the lower court to re- open the trial and put the defendant under city arrest.
The Supreme Court earlier this month lifted Soeharto's city arrest and ordered prosecutors to supervise the defendant's health condition until he is declared fit to stand trial.
In Tommy's case, his wife Ardhia Pramesti Rigita "Tata" Cahyani pleaded to South Jakarta District Court to give a stay of execution for her husband (who was earlier exonerated from all charges by the court) after the Supreme Court sentenced him for 18 months for a graft.
Tata gave herself as collateral. Even though she did not give reasons why her husband should not be jailed immediately, the district court granted the request.
Meanwhile, Tommy asked for the President's clemency. And a few days after the President turned down the request, Tommy escaped.
Until now, no measure has been taken against Tata's unfulfilled guarantee.
Another controversial case was the unprecedented recent decision of the Central Jakarta District Court, which placed Hasan under house arrest instead of jail although he was found guilty of corruption that caused US$75 million losses to the state.
The sentence is only one-quarter of the term demanded by the prosecutors, and yet Bob Hasan has still asked for an appeal.
The appeal automatically postpones execution because in the decision, the judges do not state that the defendant should immediately serve the sentence.
Hasan was earlier held at the Salemba detention center, but during prosecution, the judges put Bob under house arrest so that he "can lead a normal way (of life) since he is old, and perform religious duties", as requested by the lawyers.
Lawyer and chairman of the Indonesian Judicial Watch, Todung Mulya Lubis, said that the verdict on Hasan may raise suspicions of a "ploy" behind it.
"I suspect a bargain was met between the judges and the corruptors, not only because of the fact that house arrest has never been imposed as a sentence before, but also because there is a tendency for judges to be very soft on them.
"This obviously contradicts the government campaign to eradicate corruption, collusion and nepotism," Todung added.
Spokesman to the Attorney General's Office, Muljohardjo, said last week that the arrest status of a suspect or defendant is decided not only based on the level of the crime but also the subjective opinion of the legal enforcers.
"The consideration is very subjective, taken either by the investigators, prosecutors and the judges during every phase of the legal proceedings," he told The Jakarta Post.
"Such consideration includes the possibility that the suspect might flee, destroy evidence or commit another crime," Muljohardjo explained.
Criminal Procedures Code regulates three arrest statuses, namely, state detention, city arrest and house arrest.
A suspect is subject for arrest if he or she is charged with a crime that carries a minimum sentence of five years in jail.
A suspect can only be arrested for 60 days at most during investigation and another 50 days for prosecution process.
The judges can extend the arrest if necessary during the trial.
Legal expert Harkristuti Harkrisnowo explained that law enforcement institutions have a special authority to be subjective in deciding a status arrest.
"Such power, known as the 'discretion of power', is given to the police, the prosecutors and the judges, to allow them to take a decision on particular conditions in the hope they can uphold the justice and law.
"However, it seems that this power becomes subject to negotiation and prone to corruptive practices," she told the Post.
Harkristuti believes that the obscure criterion of the three arrest statuses emphasizes the weakness of the existing law.
"The substance of all these facts is that the implementation of the law is still discriminative, although, ideally, everyone should be equal before the law.
"In this country, you will be put above the law if you have higher social status than other criminals," she said.
Table of Arrest Status in Corruption Cases
(Defendant, Status, Period): (Soeharto, City Arrest, April 13 - May 28, 2000; House arrest, May 29 - Nov. 7, 2000; City Arrest, Nov. 8, 2000 - Feb. 2, 2001), (Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, Travel Ban, since March 12, 1999) (Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, State Arrest at the AG Office, March 28 - Aug. 25, 2000; House Arrest, Aug. 26 - Sept. 6, 2000; State Arrest at the AG Office, Sept. 7 - Dec. 21, 2000; House Arrest, Dec. 22, 2000 - present) (Sjahril Sabirin, State Arrest at the AG Office, June 21 - Sept. 21, 2000; House Arrest, Sept. 22 - Dec. 6, 2000) (Beddu Amang, State Arrest at the AG Office, Nov. 28 - Dec. 3, 2000; House Arrest due to ill-health, Dec. 4, 2000 - present) (Sapuan, State Arrest at the City Police, May, 26 - July 23, 2000; State Arrest at Cipinang penitentiary, July 24 - Aug. 24, 2000; City Arrest due to ill-health, Aug. 25, 2000 - present)