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