Do the nation justice

The row in the Supreme Court took a drastic turn last week. Since Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono revealed on July 5 that Chief Justice Soerjono has asked President Soeharto to dismiss Justice Adi Andojo Soetjipto, more and more members of the public, from prominent legal experts, students, and media commentators, to the majority of respondents to an opinion poll, have voiced support for Adi retaining his seat on the bench. Some of them have even gone further: they are suggesting that it is Soerjono who should be dismissed.

The row between the nation's two most respected serving judges began over Justice Adi's allegation of collusion practices in the Supreme Court. Soerjono launched an investigation but found there was no evidence to support Adi's claim. Adi was not happy with the way the investigation was conducted, and made his feelings known to the public, insisting that collusion is rife. Soerjono found Adi's behavior, exposing the Court's alleged dirty laundry, unacceptable and petitioned to have him removed from the Supreme Court for indiscipline.

Many media commentators meanwhile have taken the courageous step of openly declaring their support for Adi. Admittedly, the Court row is a relatively safe issue in which the press can, without hesitation, declare where they stand. Compare this with politically charged issues such as the PDI conflict, which is a potential landmine waiting for the press to tread on. But what is interesting in the Supreme Court row is the mounting public support for Justice Adi over the past week.

These are a few of the most prominent supporters: Prof. Soemantri, a constitutional law expert, reportedly warned that if Justice Adi is dismissed, it would be a dark page in the history of the Indonesian legal system. The Indonesian Bar Association has pleaded to President Soeharto to listen to public opinion and warned that dismissing Adi would further undermine people's confidence in the Supreme Court, supposedly the last bastion of justice. The association has also suggested that the chief justice should resign in the wake of the embarrassing row. And yesterday, Kompas published an opinion poll of 736 "educated Jakartans" with answers to all questions tellingly in Adi's favor: 76 percent of respondents said they support Adi's campaign against collusion practices in the Court; 65 percent said they do not accept Soerjono's claim that there is no collusion; 73 percent disagreed with the view that Adi should be dismissed. Dozens of students have also gone on hunger strike to show their support for Justice Adi.

While support for Justice Adi is mounting, no one has come forward, at least publicly, to defend Soerjono. On the contrary, the chief justice has been evasive this past week. During the weekend, when addressing a gathering in Medan, North Sumatra, he avoided the mob of reporters seeking his comments. His defense has been articulated, not very successfully, by his secretary- general Toton Soeprapto, who has acted as his spokesman. Clearly, Soerjono has a lot of explaining to do, from the allegations of collusion in the Court and the investigation, to his move to dismiss Justice Adi. His silence is not helping his case.

Now that President Soeharto has returned from his medical check up in Germany with a clean bill of health, we can expect that Soerjono's letter will be given its due consideration, and therefore an announcement should be imminent.

The massive public support for Adi, as we have stated above, shows that it would not benefit anyone, nor be in the interests of justice, to dismiss Adi Andojo. In realpolitick terms, one would expect Soeharto to side with Soerjono and save the face of not only the Supreme Court, but also the government. But in realpolitick, one cannot afford to ignore mounting public opinion either, without risking losing political support.