Justice Adi says he will accept Soeharto's decision

JAKARTA (JP): Justice Adi Andojo Soetjipto, whose whistle blowing tarnished the Supreme Court, said he would not fight his dismissal if President Soeharto endorsed it.

"I will surrender and accept whatever decision the President makes," Adi was quoted by Antara as saying on Saturday after he met a group of students hunger striking to support his campaign against collusion in the Supreme Court.

Adi said he anticipated that he may lose his job as deputy chief justice for general crimes. He will reach retirement age in nine months.

"I won't contest the decision, I will surrender," he said. "But take note, even though I'm no longer a justice I will still fight for justice and truth at all costs because this is the path that Allah will surely bless."

"I can still teach, I can write articles or books on collusion, for instance," he said, smiling. "Through teaching or writing I can continue my fight."

Adi sparked controversy earlier this year when he alleged that collusion and bribery were rife in the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Soerjono denied the allegation, saying that an internal investigation had found no evidence to substantiate his claims. Soerjono insisted that the investigation found that there were just "violations of procedures" in the way cases were parceled out to groups of judges.

The chief justice then ordered Adi to make no further allegations, claiming that his actions were undermining the integrity of the court. Adi refused to back down. The differences between the two men in the highest judicial body soon became public. During most of the affair, Soerjono refused to speak directly with the press, giving court spokesman Toton Suprapto the task of handling the media.

The justices' differences climaxed earlier this month when Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono revealed that President Soeharto had received a letter from the chief justice proposing that Justice Adi be discharged.

One lawyer and over 20 students are hunger striking to protest this proposal.

Adi on Saturday insisted that "there were efforts to cover up" collusion in the highest judicial body. He did not say why court officials were trying to cover it up.

"But I couldn't just stay silent," he said.

He admitted that his relationship with Chief Justice Soerjono had cooled.

"We went to the same law school, stayed in the same dormitory, even ate from the same rice bowl," he said. "After the uproar about collusion, our relation went bad."

Adi refused to speculate why Soerjono stayed silent throughout the affair, even though speculation is rife that the chief justice is directly involved in collusion.

Meanwhile, Antara reported that one of the six law students in Mataram, Lombok, who have been on hunger strike since Wednesday, collapsed on Friday and is now in hospital. Yulita, the only female student in the group, has received intravenous treatment but still refuses to eat or drink.

In Bandar Lampung, Lampung, one of five hunger striking students has also collapsed. There are no new reports on the condition of the ten students who went on a hunger strike last week in Purwokerto, Central Java.

"I have called on all the students to stop hunger striking over this collusion case in the Supreme Court," Adi said. "That is not the way to fight for a cause."

Adi said that the Supreme Court must clean up its act to regain people's trust: "I don't mean getting rid of its people and everything...there are still many decent judges and officials there.

"What we can do is ask those who are known to be involved in collusion, although it's hard to prove, to resign," he said. (swe)