Four-year sentence asked for high court judge

State prosecutors asked the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday to sentence a judge of the Jakarta High Court to four years in jail in a bribery case involving Supreme Court Justices.

According to prosecutor Agus Sutoto, the defendant Fauzatulo Zendrato was found guilty of manipulating his authority while he headed the appeals division of the Supreme Court two years ago by receiving Rp 550 million in bribes.

He was charged under Article 418 of the Criminal Code on bribery to state officials and the Anticorruption Law.

Fauzatulo remained quiet while listening to Agus present the sentence demand.

Presiding judge Bambang Sriwulan adjourned the hearing until next week to hear the defendant's plea.

The case started in March of 1999 after several employees of state-owned company PT Surabaya Industrial Estate Rungkut (PT SIER) visited Fauzatulo at the Supreme Court office on Jl. Lapangan Banteng, Central Jakarta.

The employees, Hartoyo Abdul Kahar, Thoriq Baya'sut and the late Soedarno met the defendant to make arrangements with the Supreme Court justice, who was to try their case, in order to secure a favorable verdict. The case had been submitted in 1995.

Previously, they had testified that they had bribed the defendant to rule in their favor in a land dispute.

Several days later, the defendant asked for Rp 200 million from Hartoyo in order to bribe a panel of justices for the first case. Shortly thereafter, Fauzatulo received a Rp 150 million bank transfer from PT SIER on March 24, 1999 after the company negotiated the price down slightly.

On April 29, the record shows, a panel of justices ruled that PT SIER won the case.

Fauzatulo then asked for Rp 400 million on July 7, 1999 from Hartoyo, this time to influence a second case. PT SIER approved his request. Again, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of PT SIER in a land dispute case.

The justices involved in the case, including R.L. Tobing, Soedarno, Marnis Kahar, M. Yahya Harahap and R.Sunu Wahadi, oddly enough, were never called to testify in the case against Fauzatulo, nor have they been charged.

Marnis and Harahap were defendants in a similar bribery case involving Rp 190 million. However, they were acquitted of all charges.

Tobing, Marnis and Soedarno are currently justices at the Supreme Court while Harahap and Wahadi are now retired. --JP