Manulife judge to file suit against govt
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Hasan Basri, one of the three judges who tried the high-profile case involving the local unit of Canadian insurance giant Manulife Financial, hinted on Wednesday he would file a lawsuit with the Jakarta State Administrative Court against the government for its decision to suspend him over bribery allegations.
"I was surprised to hear Pak Yusril's decision (to suspend me) because I was the one who opposed the other two judges' decision to declare PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia (AJMI) bankrupt," Hasan said during a media conference, referring to Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra.
Hasan said his opposition to the decision of the other two judges was based on his consideration that the case should be heard by the district court, not the commercial court.
Minister Yusril announced on Tuesday night the three Manulife judges -- Hasan, Ch. Kristi Purnamiwulan and Tjahyono -- were suspended from duty pending an investigation into allegations that they were bribed to declare the insurance firm bankrupt.
The decision to suspend the judges was made during a meeting between Yusril and President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who approved the decree suspending the three judges based on Government Regulation No. 30/1980 on the civil service and Government Regulation No. 26/1991 on the procedures for the removal of judges.
Yusril said an investigative team set up by his ministry had found indications of criminal actions by the three judges, and had suggested that the case be handed over to the National Police for further investigation.
Hasan's lawyer, Firman Wijaya, said the commercial court's bankruptcy ruling was made after his client -- who was the presiding judge -- was outvoted by the other two judges, who insisted that AJMI be declared bankrupt.
Hasan refused to answer the question of whether his opposition to the two other judges' position came after he met with one of Manulife's lawyers prior to issuing the verdict on June 13.
"No, I refuse to answer that question," Hasan said.
Firman also accused Yusril of failing to follow legal procedure, saying sanctions against the three judges could only be imposed after they were allowed to defend themselves before the judges honorary council, set up by the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.
He was referring to articles 20 and 22 of Law No. 2/1986 on the civil court, which stipulate that sanctions can be imposed on judges who have violated the law and their oaths as judges only after a hearing with the honorary council.
"Until now, Pak Hasan has not been heard by the council, so how could the minister (Yusril) impose the same sanction against the three judges despite their different stances?" Firman asked.
The lawyer accused Yusril of overstepping his authority in suspending the judges, considering that "Law No. 35/1999, which is a revision of Law No. 14/1970 on judicial authority, stipulates that all judicial institutions are under the supervision of the Supreme Court".
Echoing Firman was Supreme Court justice Toton Suprapto, who is also the chairman of the Indonesian Judges Association. He said "the minister must consider this (1999) law because any violation of its articles will only cause judges to suffer".
Although he refused to call Yusril's decision a political one, Toton suggested "Pak Hasan file a lawsuit against it".
Wasingatu Zakiyah of the Indonesian Corruption Watch's judiciary monitoring division, however, defended Yusril's decision, and blamed the Supreme Court for failing to take control of the case.
But she regretted the government's decision was made in response to such a high-profile case that had drawn the international community's attention.