Judges to arrive in Maluku this month
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.