Endin gets suspended jail term

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Endin Wahyudin, a defendant in a defamation case against two Supreme Court justices, was sentenced to a three-month suspended jail term with a six-month probation period at the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday.

Presiding judge Amiruddin Zakaria stated that Endin, 49, was found guilty of defaming Marnis Kahar and Supraptini Sutarto, as the defendant claimed he had bribed the two justices to influence their decisions over a land dispute case.

Endin, a broker, had earlier said that late in 1988 he gave the money to the justices, and another Rp 96 million to M. Yahya Harahap, another Supreme Court justice who is now retired.

"The Attorney General's Office, along with the (now defunct) Joint Anticorruption Team (TGPTPK) had promised to protect me, but they sent me to this court. It's just not fair," Endin said after the trial.

Endin, a witness in a bribery case involving Marnis, Supraptini and M. Yahya Harahap, reported the case to TGPTPK because the justices had guaranteed he would win his case, but he still lost.

Marnis, Supraptini and Harahap were tried earlier this year but the courts dropped the charges.

Separately, lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis regretted the verdict, saying that it was a setback to the country's attempts to combat corruption, collusion and nepotism in the judicial entity here.

The verdict reflected the judges' solidarity to protect their colleagues, said Todung.

"People who know the (bribery) cases will be afraid to report the crime to the police," he told The Jakarta Post, saying that the government's statements to combat corruption, collusion and nepotism were just buzzwords.

Todung urged the government to stipulate a law on witness protection.