Manulife judges dishonest: KPKPN

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After putting the heat on the attorney general, the Public Servants' Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN) revealed on Tuesday its plan to report two of the three judges who declared the local branch of Canadian insurance giant Manulife Financial as bankrupt.

The head of KPKPN investigators to the case, Soekotjo Soeparto, said Commercial Court judges Hasan Basri and Ch. Kristi Purnamiwulan "were dishonest while reporting their wealth and failed to clarify the discrepancies".

"We will soon submit our recommendation to the Supreme Court to ask the two judges to resign. We will also ask the police to further investigate them to see if they were engaged in corruption, collusion or nepotism," he told reporters at his office.

Soekotjo said Hassan's declaration of wealth to KPKPN showed that his estate was valued at Rp 1.2 billion (US$133,000), 10 percent of which came from people who had won court cases.

Meanwhile, Kristi failed to report the remainder of her assets, which are said to be worth Rp 1.4 billion.

Judges Hasan, Kristi and Tjahjono drew international and domestic criticism last June when they declared PT Asuransi Jiwa Manulife Indonesia bankrupt for failing to pay a dividend to its previous owner PT Dharmala Sakti Sejahtera in 1999.

The Supreme Court later overturned the verdict, while the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, together with the police, carried out an investigation into allegations that the judges took bribes from PT Dharmala.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri has also suspended them, while the disciplinary committee of judges checks if there were any possible violations within the judges' code of conduct.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said that he and Chief Justice Bagir Manan had received a recommendation on the three judges from the disciplinary committee, but they may revise it before submitting it to the President, who has the authority to dismiss the judges.

"The council's recommendation is different from what the police have found," Yusril told reporters at his office.

The police said they would complete their investigation soon and then lay charges.