Money talks in Indonesia's corrupt judiciary: Public

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A career woman expressed her frustration when the justice system did not side with her, with police ignored her demand that a truck belonging to a businessman be confiscated pending a court verdict to settle their dispute.

Kristina, an employee of a private bank, said the police's decision to let the truck re-operate after crashing into her car went against her sense of justice.

An investigator at the East Jakarta traffic police unit who handled the case eventually conceded that he had received a payment from the businessman in exchange for issuing the operation permit. The officer said the money was given to improve police welfare.

The woman admitted to having paid a considerable amount of money to obtain the police permit to release her badly-damaged car for repairs. Police had seized the car as evidence.

Kristina said she had to pay an East Jakarta District Court clerk Rp 250,000 just to get a copy of the court verdict, in which the truck driver was sentenced to one year in jail for negligence that led to the accident.

She said she needed the copy as evidence in order to file a civil lawsuit against the driver's employer and demand compensation for her damaged car.

Another woman, Sulastri (not her real name), shared a similar experience when was recently asked to pay Rp 4 million to a judge in exchange for his "assistance" in speeding up the hearing of her separation lawsuit against her husband.

"I could not avoid paying the judges who have slowed down the separation process. I want to divorce my husband as it will make me feel better," she told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

A clerk at the Central Jakarta District Court, who asked for anonymity, said that money was more important than the law in the judiciary system and it was just a reality that justice and court services could be bought by rich "justice seekers".

"Adiguna Sutowo is the latest example. He faced a life sentence for shooting a bartender to death and not admitting his wrongdoing, got only seven years in jail," he said.

The clerk said bribing law enforcers was a common practice in the country's judiciary system.

A reliable source at the East Jakarta prosecutor's office said that justice remained a dream for justice seekers.

"Our judiciary system has been affected by the corrupt culture in our society. Law enforcers are corrupt because they are underpaid, causing them to abuse their power to enable them support their family and send their children to school," he said.

He said a junior attorney stationed in Jakarta would be willing to take the risk of being dismissed for taking a bribe because they would not be able to survive otherwise in the city.

The source also said many prosecutors frequently abused their power in order to obtain additional income to cover their daily needs in performing their official duties.

"Many prosecutors, for instance, have to pay couriers to deliver summons letters to witnesses and to cover the latter's transportation costs to ensure that they show up in court," he said.