Courts of law battling image problem

Courts of law battling image problem

By Imanuddin

JAKARTA (JP): The year 1994 was filled with many controversial court room battles. The most interesting battle of all, however, occurred outside the courtroom as the legal system itself struggled to improve its image.

The legal system was fraught with scandals and controversies that put Indonesia's courts of law in the spotlight throughout the year, with questions lingering to this day as to their integrity and independence.

The controversies were partly provoked by the government and also by the courts themselves. In the Sixth Five Year Plan (Pelita VI), which was launched on April 1, the development of the legal sector is one of the top priorities. Among the goals set out in the Pelita VI are greater enforcement of law and a stronger and respected judicial system.

Pelita VI and the judicial system could not have gotten off to a worse start.

In March and April, there were allegations that a district court judge in Surabaya accepted bribes from a number of businessmen before acquitting them of tax evasion charges.

The judge was immediately replaced and summoned to Jakarta to answer to the charges. An internal investigation by the Ministry of Justice later cleared Judge Sarwono of the charges but found him guilty of some "impropriety", though the authorities did not disclose precisely what he had been involved in.

The integrity of the Supreme Court also came under question this year when it reversed its own decision in the highly-charged Kedung Ombo land dispute, and handed back victory to the government.

The court had earlier won plaudits for its bold decision to overrule a high court ruling and pass judgment in favor of 34 villagers in their fight against the government.

The final decision, made by Chief Justice Purwoto Gandasubrata shortly before he retired in October, brought into question how independent of the bureaucracy the courts are in reality.

Then there was the allegation by retired justice Zainal Asikin Kusumah Atmadja that judges were colluding with government prosecutors and clients in reaching their verdicts. Hence the ominous term "court mafia".

The country's top judges did not immediately refute the allegation. By using the argument that "it takes two to tango", they argued that the other participants were as much to blame.

Purwoto also left another polemic behind when he retired. The government approved his proposal to hike the salaries of judges by 100 percent. The across-the-board raise, which goes into effect this month, is supposed to ensure that their welfare is taken care of and to allow the judges to concentrate fully on their responsibilities.

Still, there were times when the courts won praise for their bold moves, indicating that there are some independent-minded judges.

The first decision by the Supreme Court on the Kedung Ombo case was one example, although it was overruled in the end.

Then, there was the decision by Judge Sutarmiyati of the East Java High Court to acquit businessman Judi Susanto of charges that he masterminded the murder of a labor activist in May 1993.

The Marsinah murder trials were some of the most controversial in 1994. Judi's acquittal has further complicated the matter, as eight others were also convicted in the killing.

The acquittal has prompted calls for the release of the other eight and for the authorities to initiate a new investigation to find the real murderers. The Attorney General's Office, however, insist that they already have the murderers and is now planning to appeal the acquittal of Judi to the Supreme Court.

There were also times in 1994 when the courts showed their ability to swiftly bring cases to an end, most notably with the corruption cases at the government-owned Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo).

The Central and South Jakarta district courts held marathon sessions to try and convict six people in connection with the Rp 1.3 trillion ($620 million) loan scandal at Bapindo.

Businessman Edy Tansil was given 17 years imprisonment, only to have his sentence increased again by the Jakarta High Court to 20 years. The other five -- four former directors and one junior executive -- received between four and nine years for "helping" Tansil get rich through his dealings with Bapindo.

The Bapindo trials reflected the government's and the court's intention to tackle the economic crimes which have been increasing in number in recent years.

Last year also had its share of political trials, perhaps the ultimate litmus test for the courts in terms of independence and integrity.

The Central Jakarta District Courts in June handed jail terms of between eight and 12 months to a group of students who were rounded up by police for staging anti-government demonstrations at the House of Representatives.

They were found guilty of libel with the court saying that some of their remarks insulted the good name of President Soeharto. The students insisted that they were only exercising their rights to freedom of opinion and speech, both guaranteed by the constitution.

In October, a lawsuit against President Soeharto was filed by six non-governmental organizations who opposed his plan to apportion a large sum of money from the nation's forestry fund to IPTN, the national aircraft industry, for the development of a new plane.

The Jakarta State Administrative Court had earlier encouraged the petitioners to go ahead with the lawsuit but later dropped the case entirely, saying that the court had no authority to try the case.

Former employees of Tempo magazine, who lost their jobs when the government revoked its publishing permit, also took their government protests from the streets to the court room. This was another encouraging sign that people are now utilizing the courtroom to resolve disputes.

However, the case of the former employees, who have sued Minister of Information Harmoko over his ruling to close down the magazine, is still being tried at the Jakarta State Administrative Court.