Disciplinary committee sought for probe into graft

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Corruption watchdog Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) urged judges on Saturday to form a disciplinary committee to probe an alleged corruption case that reportedly implicates a South Jakarta District Court judge, which was reported to police on Friday.

"The committee needs to investigate the panel of judges in the reported case, not only the judge in question," ICW coordinator Teten Masduki said in a statement on Saturday.

If proven guilty, those involved in the case should be dismissed, he said, adding that the case should also be legally processed.

He also demanded the government to be transparent when handling cases involving judicial corruption.

The government has so far failed to publicly clarify any cases implicating judges, including how many had been interrogated and how many had been sent to court, Teten added.

"It seems that these cases are covered up and made a state secret," he said.

ICW urged the police to immediately investigate the complaint filed by lawyer Wawan Iriawan, who reported the alleged extortion conducted by a judge.

"We hope these measures will help uncover cases of judicial corruption in the country in an effort to uphold the law," he said.

Judicial corruption is rife among judges here, but many such cases remain largely untouched, he said.

Among the reported cases was a ruling issued by the Central Jakarta Commercial Court on the bankruptcy of Canada-based Manulife Financial Corp in June. The decision was later overturned by a higher court while the judges were suspended for corruption.

On Friday, Wawan reported to city police that judge Torang H. Tampubolon had demanded a hefty Rp 3 billion (US$330,000) in exchange for a favorable ruling for his client's firm, PT Satya Teguh Persada, which had lost a civil case to plaintiff PT Asri Kencana Gemilang.

The commercial dispute also involved the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) and state-owned Bank Mandiri.

The request was rejected, but Wawan said that his client had bought the judge a cell phone upon the latter's request.

Tampubolon has denied the allegations. The judge did not appear in court after the allegations were made public.

Chief Justice Bagir Manan said he had ordered his personnel to investigate the case.