NGOs assess Supreme Court ruling

NGOs assess Supreme Court ruling

JAKARTA: A coalition of non-governmental organizations has
pledged to finish examination of the Supreme Court's various
rulings issued on the land swap scam involving the fugitive son
of former president Soeharto, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, on
Oct. 22.

The 12-member team will focus on the legal considerations
taken by the panel of justices, led by Supreme Court Deputy Chief
Justice M. Taufiq, who overturned their colleague's earlier
verdict which sentenced Tommy to 18 months in prison for graft
charges.

The examination includes the legal correlation between the
convict's appeal for a presidential pardon and an appeal for a
judicial review by the Supreme Court, legal analysis on whether a
commissioner can be blamed in a crime and the convict's status
after being declared innocent, the team said in a statement on
Friday.

The team will also see whether the panel of justices erred in
issuing the result of their controversial judicial review on Oct.
1, which has sparked debate and suspicion about the integrity of
the justices.

A public discussion on the team's critique of the decision
will be held on the third week of this month, while its result
will be handed to the House of Representatives/People's
Consultative Assembly by the end of the month.

The team includes the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), the
Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI),
Judicial Watch, Center for Legal Studies and Policies (PSHK) and
Court Monitoring Society and Consortium on National Law Reform.

The legal experts on the team include Achmad Ali, Adi Andojo
Sutjipto, Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, Trimoelja D. Suryadi and
Bambang Widjojanto. -- JP