Disciplinary committee sought for probe into graft

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.