Court reassigns two judges in 'Tempo' case

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Two judges from the East Jakarta District Court who issued an asset preservation order on the property of Tempo cofounder Goenawan Mohamad and Koran Tempo daily at the request of businessman Tomy Winata have been removed from the case after being "promoted to higher positions".

The head of the district court, Sjarnubi, said on Wednesday Mabruq Nur and Surya Darma Belo would assume new positions as the deputy head of the Bengkulu High Court and as a judge at the Banda Aceh High Court in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, respectively.

They will be replaced by Zainal Abidin Sangaji and Syamsul Bachri Bapatua.

A third judge, Rustam Idris, maintained his position on the panel of judges hearing the libel suit filed by Tomy.

Sjarnubi said the moves were made "in accordance with a decree on the transfer of promotion of judges issued by the minister of justice and human rights".

He declined to say when the ministry issued the decree.

When asked if the two judges were reassigned because of their ruling against Goenawan and Koran Tempo, he said: "No, it has nothing to do with their issuance of the asset preservation order. They have been promoted to higher positions."

Sjarnubi was quick to add that the decision was also based on a circular on general guidelines for the transfer and promotion of judges issued by the Supreme Court. The circular was dated Feb. 13, 2003.

A panel of judges consisting of Mabruq, Surya and Rustam signed an asset preservation order dated Sept. 25 on Goenawan's house in Kayu Putih subdistrict, Pulo Mas, East Jakarta, and on the office of Koran Tempo daily on Jl. Kebayoran Baru in South Jakarta.

The order quickly caused public outrage, with critics accusing the judges of colluding with Tomy. The order was also called inappropriate because such orders are generally issued by the court in cases involving a financial dispute between the plaintiff and the accused.

Last Friday, Goenawan, lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis and a number of senior journalists met with Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan to convey their concerns over the possible "infiltration of thuggery into the judiciary".

Speaking after the meeting, Bagir promised that the court would resolve the Tempo case amicably.

A lawyer for Tempo, Maqdir Ismail, said defense lawyers had sent a letter to the district court on Oct. 3 requesting the replacement of the panel of judges.

"Our main consideration when making the request was the public view that the judges were standing up in favor of the plaintiff," he said.

Maqdir said he expected the new judges would act transparently and be more accountable to the public.

"Judges are public servants, therefore they have to be accountable to the public rather than to a small group of people with financial clout," he said.

The hearing of the Tempo case will resume on Oct. 15 when the new panel of judges will hear statements from the plaintiff's lawyers.