Eight Supreme Court officials take oaths

Eight Supreme Court officials take oaths

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, Jakarta

Two deputies and six divisional heads of the Supreme Court took
their oaths of office on Monday in a ceremony witnessed by
President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Chief Justice Bagir Manan.

Mariana Sutadi Nasution was sworn in as deputy chief justice
of judiciary, while Syamsuhadi Irsyad became deputy chief justice
of non-judiciary.

Parman Soeparman was installed as head of criminal affairs,
Andi Syamsu Alam as religious affairs head, Abdul Rahman Saleh as
supervisory head, Ahmad Kamil as head of training, Abdul Kadir
Mappong as commercial court head and Iskandar Kamil as special
crimes head.

During the ceremony at the State Palace, deputy Cabinet
secretary Erman Radjagukguk read out a presidential decree on the
officials appointment as required by Supreme Court Law No.
4/2004.

Megawati attended the swearing-in ceremony as a witness, as
the Supreme Court is an independent institution.

Mariana and Syamsuhadi are two of 40 Supreme Court justices
and were elected to their new posts by their peers.

Mariana will assist the chief justice in case management, and
was elected despite her controversial 2000 track record, when she
allegedly accepted a huge bribe from a Jakarta developer. She has
denied the allegation.

Syamsuhadi, known as a humble, intellectual judge with
extensive experience at the High Court, is to handle non-judicial
responsibilities.

A number of Cabinet ministers and other high-ranking officials
also attended the ceremony, including House of Representatives
Speaker Akbar Tandjung, who was acquitted of graft earlier this
year by the Supreme Court.