More than 20 judges to be sent to Ambon

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Supreme Court has assigned 22 senior judges to serve district courts and the high court of the troubled Maluku province, a Supreme Court official said on Monday.

"There is no objection from the judges since it's only a tour of duty," deputy chief of the Supreme Court Taufiq told reporters.

The Supreme Court would take back the judges from Ambon if each of them has dealt with a minimum of 100 cases, he said.

"If a judge can hear the cases in a month, we will take him back from Ambon in a month," he said.

The Supreme Court will send them to Ambon as soon as the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights issues their assignment papers.

"We can't wait any longer as there are heaps of cases waiting in Ambon due to the acute shortage of judges there. We will accompany them to Ambon to prove that we are not deterred by conditions there," he said.

Hundreds of law violations have been abandoned since many judges and prosecutors have left the province because of the political instability and the prolonged conflict.

Senior judges, Taufiq said, are believed to have the expertise to handle cases in Ambon 'wisely'. The three-year old Christian- Muslim conflict has claimed more than 6,000 lives.

To assure the safety of the judges, the Supreme Court has hired security guards at their rented houses, Taufiq said. The judges, too, deserve protection from the Maluku authorities, he said.

Currently, the Ambon District Court has only three judges. The court used to have 10 judges, including its chief and deputy chief.

However, Ministry of Justice and Human Rights director general for civil and state administrative courts Soejatno said that the ministry had only prepared 15 judges to be sent to Ambon.

"We only got 15 names. They are seniors judges from around the country, who have served in the court system for at least 10 years. They comprise different religions, but the composition is balanced," he said.