Judges often subjected to outside pressure

Judges often subjected to outside pressure

JAKARTA (JP): Judges dealing with lawsuits filed against the
government often come under pressure from both private
individuals and officials attempting to influence their
decisions, Chief of the Jakarta State Administrative Court
Benjamin Mangkoedilaga said yesterday.

"I have often been asked by parties involved in conflicts to
make decisions in their favor," Benjamin admitted to reporters
during a ceremony to install the Jakarta Court's new deputy
chief, Sudarto Radyosuwarno.

Benjamin, who has been reassigned to serve as a high court
judge in the North Sumatra High State Administrative court, is
well-known for his controversial ruling; the most recent being in
May when he overturned the government's decision to ban the
popular current affairs publication Tempo.

Efforts to influence judges' rulings have not had much
success, according to Benjamin, as he has worked hard to instruct
his counterparts on how to cope with such interferences.

"I ask you to work with the other judges to avoid engineered
verdicts," he asked the new deputy chief, Sudarto, in his speech.

Right

Though everyone has a right to battle for his or her cause, it
must be done in an ethical manner, Benjamin added.

The judge denied that his removal from a key post in the
Indonesian capital to a less influential court in Medan was a
demotion and retribution for his controversial decisions against
the government.

"I am receiving a promotion with my new position in Medan,"
Benjamin said, adding that he expected to enjoy the new post.

"It is fair for me to be assigned to a place other than the
Jakarta High State Administrative Court, where I will handle many
appealed cases from the Jakarta State Administrative Court which
I have already been directly or indirectly involved with," he
said.

Benjamin denied that his assignment to Medan was a direct
consequence of his recent controversial decision over a lawsuit
filed by former employees and journalists of the defunct Tempo
against Minister of Information Harmoko. The decision, in favor
of the plaintiffs, called for the minister to reissue Tempo's
revoked publishing license.

Harmoko, represented by Attorney General Singgih, is appealing
against Benjamin's verdict to the Jakarta High State
Administrative Court.

The judge, who learned of his new post last Thursday, said
that he probably will be replaced by Lintong Oloan Siahaan, the
current head of the Bandung State Administrative Court in West
Java.

Sudarto, the Jakarta Court's new deputy chief, hails from
Yogyakarta and was born on Feb. 13, 1945. He graduated from the
School of Law at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta in 1968.

Sudarto began his career as a judge at the Sukoharjo District
Court in Central Java in 1974. He was then transferred several
times before being appointed deputy chief of the Poso District
Court in Central Sulawesi in 1988.

In 1990, Sudarto was assigned to be a judge for the Ujung
Pandang State Administrative Court in South Sulawesi in 1990.
Later, in 1992, he moved on to serve as chief of the Manado State
Administrative Court in North Sulawesi before being appointed
deputy chief in Jakarta.(imn)