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)