Demand for probe in bribery scandal gains momentum
JAKARTA (JP): Adi Andojo Soetjipto, the senior judge who alleged that bribery is rampant in the Supreme Court, and has called for an investigation, is gaining more and more support from various institutions and individuals.
Sudomo, a close aide of President Soeharto's, and scholars at Central Java universities are among those calling for a speedy resolution to the bribery scandal at the Supreme Court. Other calls have also been made by the Association of Islamic Students.
"We must not let this scandal go unresolved," legal observer Satjipto Rahardjo of Diponegoro University told The Jakarta Post in Semarang yesterday.
"We have to support anybody who is willing to take risks to save the Supreme Court from such scandals," Satjipto, who is also a member of the National Commission on Human Rights, said.
The effort to uncover this scandal should try not to tarnish the Supreme Court's reputation, he added. "All related parties should sit together and discuss solutions so that the good name of the Supreme Court can be restored."
Sudomo, chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council, said separately yesterday that the Supreme Court itself should solve the scandal, without inviting in other bodies to help.
He pointed out that the President, the House of Representatives, the Supreme Audit Agency and the Supreme Advisory Council are all institutions which are technically of equal level. None of them can intervene in another's internal affairs, he said.
President Soeharto said on Wednesday that the Supreme Court should be able to resolve the matter itself. This statement was made following public discussion as to who has the authority to investigate the Rp 1.4 billion (US$600,000) bribe allegedly paid to the Supreme Court judge Samsoedin Aboebakar.
A legal observer, for instance, has called on Adi Andojo to seek the support of the office of Vice President Try Sutrisno who is in charge of the supervision of state agencies' operation. Minister of Justice Oetojo Oesman said earlier this week the Supreme Court could ask the President or Vice President for "guidance".
The executive board of the Association of Islamic Students called for a complete resolution of the alleged collusion case, saying that this is crucial to the people's trust in the Indonesian judicial system.
"If the allegations turn out to be true, then the senior judges involved in this case should be punished accordingly," the students said in a statement.
Political observer Riswandha Imawan of Gadjah Mada University has blamed the political system for the rampant corruption among officials.
"There's no delegation of power here, and this creates a thick layer of bureaucracy which tends to corrupt," he said.
The alleged collusion made headlines in newspapers after a recent edition of the Forum Keadilan magazine printed a secret letter from Adi to the Central Jakarta Prosecutors' Office.
Adi asked the office to review the Supreme Court's decision, which acquitted the Indian school principal Ram Gulumal of charges of unlawful land procurement for the construction of the Indian Gandhi Memorial International School in Ancol, North Jakarta.
The magazine reported that Gulumal's acquittal sparked controversy among senior judges because there were indications that the judge presiding over the case had received a bribe of Rp 1.4 billion to secure the acquittal of the defendant.(har/imn)