Judge Soenarto may become High Court judge
JAKARTA (JP): R. Soenarto, the judge at the center of the South Jakarta District Court's controversial decision on the high-profile court case involving Bank Bali funds, may soon be promoted, a Supreme Court official said on Monday.
"The Supreme Court planned a massive tour of duty in the country's judicial circle six months ago. It will involve, among others, heads of the South Jakarta and North Jakarta district courts," Pranowo, the secretary-general of the Supreme Court, told reporters at his office in Central Jakarta.
"R. Soenarto, the head of the South Jakarta District Court, has met all the criteria to be promoted to the Jakarta High Court," he said.
Pranowo, however, insisted that Soenarto's promotion had nothing to do with either his controversial ruling on Djoko S. Tjandra, a suspect in the Rp 546 billion (US$78 million) Bank Bali scandal, or President Abdurrahman Wahid's recent statement that he would remove corrupt judges from the city district courts.
"It's just part of a routine promotion in the country's judicial circle," he said.
Pranowo said Soenarto was "old enough" to get the promotion.
"The Supreme Court has also considered that he is a senior figure in his field," he said.
Soenarto, 57, has spent his 20-year career as a judge.
Last week, all charges were dropped against Djoko S. Tjandra on a legal technicality.
The court rejected the case, claiming there was insufficient evidence implicating the defendant's involvement in the alleged crime.
"It's a civil case and it's the authority of judges in a civil court to try and rule whether the cessie contract was illegal or not," he said.
The Attorney General's Office is now seeking to file an appeal with the Jakarta High Court.
The scandal centers around the transfer of some Rp 546 billion ($73.7 million) from Bank Bali to a private company, PT Era Giat Prima, as a commission for its service to help the bank recoup some Rp 904 billion in interbank claims on closed banks under the control of the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).
Djoko was an executive at the company.
The case emerged in July 1999. It has become controversial since several high-ranking government officials were allegedly involved in the case and part of the money was believed to have been transferred to the Golkar Party to help finance the presidential campaign of then president B.J. Habibie.
Pressure, including from the World Bank, has mounted against the verdict, saying it undermines the country's drive to combat corruption, collusion and nepotism.
Pranowo dismissed speculation that the case would hamper Soenarto's chance to be elected as a member of the Jakarta High Court.
"The case is not over yet. The ruling was announced at a pretrial hearing, so the prosecutor still has the chance to file an appeal with the Jakarta High Court," he said.
Soenarto was also the presiding judge in the case of the land exchange deal between the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and wholesale firm PT Goro Batara Sakti.
All charges were cleared against former president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who was the president commissioner of the company. Tommy was the defendant in the case. (asa)