LBH supports police investigation of Elza
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Legal Aid Institute (LBH) in Jakarta voiced its support for a police investigation into bribery allegations against Elza Syarief, a lawyer for Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, and condemned any efforts to provide corrupt lawyers with impunity.
LBH Jakarta's acting chairman, Paulus Mahulete, deplored efforts on the part of senior advocates to shift alleged criminal offenses committed by lawyers into mere violations of the profession's code of ethics.
"It's a shame to the profession ... that the senior advocates fail to distinguish ethics violations from crimes," he said during a media conference on Tuesday.
He was referring specifically to a statement by the Committee of Advocate Groups (KGA), which was established to defend Elza. The committee chairman, Adnan Buyung Nasution, said Elza's case should be investigated by an ad hoc ethics board.
Paulus said he suspected the effort to form a special team to probe the case instead of allowing the police to open an investigation was an attempt to protect the "court mafia", using the independence of the legal profession as an excuse.
Elza is alleged to have bribed Rahmat Hidayat and Tatang Somantri, two witnesses in Tommy's criminal trial, to lie to the court. The two, who are currently in police detention, have said that Elza gave them each Rp 2 million before they testified in court.
The head of LBH Jakarta's civil and political division, Mulyadi Goce, said the pro bono lawyers grouped in the institute considered KGA their opponent in the struggle to eradicate judicial corruption.
KGA's chairman, Buyung, is the cofounder of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute, of which LBH Jakarta is one of 14 offices nationwide.
Separately, the Indonesian Advocates and Lawyers Association (HAPI) held an unscheduled press briefing to announce the lineup of the ad hoc team it is establishing to investigate the allegations against Elza.
A member of HAPI's honorary board, Yan Apul Girsang, said the team would include the dean of Pelita Harapan University's law school, Khumardja, House of Representatives member Ahmad Satari and a staff member from the police's legal affairs division.
Khumardja, who was contacted by journalists after the press briefing, said he was unaware that any such ad hoc team was being formed.
Girsang said the association did not have its own code of ethics that could be applied to Elza's case, so it would use the Indonesian Bar Association's code, with some modifications.
HAPI has also formed a fact-finding team, chaired by Salikin, to investigate the case.
Salikin said on Monday that Elza had admitted giving Rahmat Hidayat, a former security guard, Rp 1 million to buy "descent clothes" for his appearance in court to testify in Tommy's case. Salikin added that it was common for lawyers to give witnesses money for transportation.