Judges to arrive in Maluku this month

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Eleven judges have been assigned to the troubled Maluku and North Maluku provinces and are expected to arrive there later this month, the ministry of justice and human rights said Thursday.

"We expect them to arrive in their new posts by the end of April at the latest," Ministry of Justice and Human Rights director general for civil and state administrative courts Soejatno told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

Soejatno said the judges, who are currently assigned in various lower courts throughout the country, were chosen early this year and had been given three months to complete their current tasks and to prepare for the transfer to the two provinces.

Aside from the 11 judges, the ministry has also recruited 11 local law graduates to become judges and is seeking Supreme Court approval for their installment, he said.

The Maluku and North Maluku provinces have seen the worst religious conflicts in the country's history, with thousands of innocent people killed since the clashes broke out in January 1999.

Prosecuting those violating the law had been considered as a crucial phase in the peace process but authorities were confronted with a serious shortage of judges and prosecutors as many had fled the provinces.

The law enforcement issue forms part of the agreement made between the representatives of warring Maluku Muslim and Christian communities in Malino, South Sulawesi on Feb. 12, 2002.

According to Soejatno, the ministry has also carried out training programs for new judges to replace those who had fled their posts due to insecurity in the conflict-torn provinces.

The ministry's crash programs are part of the government's efforts to restore law enforcement in the conflict-torn regions, as a realization of the peace accord stipulated in the Declaration of Malino II.

Soejatno also said the ministry has recruited 25 and 24 law graduates in Aceh and Irian Jaya respectively to become judges in the two provinces.