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.