Court reassigns two judges in 'Tempo' case

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.