Judiciary urged to clean up its act

Judiciary urged to clean up its act

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has ordered the judiciary and
advocates to cleanse themselves of corruption.

"Without intending to interfere in the judicial realm, I hope
that our courts will embark on a process of internal cleansing
and be serious about handling corruption cases," he said in his
State of the Nation address to the House of Representatives on
Tuesday.

The President, who launched a national antigraft drive last
year, also urged the organizations representing advocates to be
serious in upholding their professional code of ethics.

"Along with other law officers, I hope that all advocates will
be serious about combating corruption, bribery and other
disgraceful practices that damage the prestige of the law and our
legal institutions," he said.

It has long been accepted that advocates regularly bribe law
enforcers. However, it is extremely difficult to bring them to
justice. So far, the only bribery case involving advocates that
has been acted upon is the one involving at least one lawyer
acting for suspended Aceh governor Abdullah Puteh, who was
recently convicted of graft.

The case, which is being investigated by the Corruption
Eradication Commission (KPK), involved an attempt by the lawyer
to bribe high court clerks. The lawyer and the court clerks were
caught red-handed by KPK investigators.

Susilo said the government needed the support of all legal and
law enforcement institutions, as well as the rest of society, to
eradicate widespread corruption in the country.

"The government cannot do this on its own," he said,
adding that he had ordered National Police chief Gen. Sutanto and
Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh to take firm action against
corrupt subordinates.

The reputation of the country's legal institutions has been
tainted by the emergence of what is known as the court mafia,
which affects the lowest to the highest echelons in the public
prosecution service and courts.

Advocates are also deeply involved.

The Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) organization revealed the
extent of corruption in the judicial system in a book published
last year. United Nations special rapporteur Param Cumarasway
also said last year that the country's legal system was among the
worst he had ever seen.

Susilo, who won the presidential election last year due in
part to his promise to wage war on corruption, reiterated his
government's determination to combat corruption, which had
brought suffering to the people and damaged the morality of the
nation.

"The momentum for eradicating corruption has clearly been set
in motion and we shall maintain this momentum, to reduce
corruption to the minimum," he said.

Since taking office in October last year, Susilo said that he
had made various efforts for eradicate corruption.

These included the launching of the National Movement to
Eradicate Corruption, the adoption of the 2004-2009 National
Action Plan for the Eradication of Corruption and the
establishment of a Coordinating Action Committee to Eradicate
Corruption (Timtas Tipikor).

The President also praised the achievements of the Corruption
Eradication Commission (KPK) in handling at least 25 high profile
corruption cases, including the Abdullah Puteh case.