No more delays on Akbar: Bagir
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Supreme Court chief Bagir Manan defended on Thursday the judges' decision to delay the announcement of their verdict on House of Representatives speaker Akbar Tandjung.
The delay did not violate existing regulations, even though the judges had actually reached an agreement, he said.
Bagir said the delay was due to technical reasons as "the panel of judges wants to be sure that everything is perfect."
"Of course, they (the judges) should not be careless because people will not tolerate any misspellings or other inaccuracies in drafting the verdict," he said.
However, the chief justice promised that there would be no more delays next week.
The judges on Wednesday reached a consensus on the much- awaited verdict on an appeal of Akbar's corruption conviction to the Supreme Court, but decided to delay announcing it until Feb. 12.
Akbar, also the Golkar Party chairman and a presidential hopeful, submitted the appeal several months ago.
The prolonged delays have sparked widespread speculation of backroom deals and political intrigue against or in favor of Akbar.
If Akbar's conviction was to be upheld by the Supreme Court, his political career could be finished, but if exonerated, he could pose a serious challenge to President Megawati Soekarnoputri and other candidates in the upcoming presidential election, according to analysts.
The Central Jakarta District Court in September 2002 found Akbar guilty of embezzling Rp 40 billion in state funds, which were to go to a food-for-the-poor program in 1999. He was sentenced to three years, but has remained free and continues his job as House speaker.
At the time of the crime, he was the state secretary in the Cabinet of former president B.J. Habibie.
The Jakarta High Court upheld Akbar's conviction in January last year.
Legal expert Topo Santoso from the University of Indonesia (UI) concurred with Bagir, saying the delay in announcing the verdict was not necessarily a violation of the court's own regulations, but it was a violation of justice.
He remarked that it was extremely unfortunate that the Supreme Court had failed to respond to the aspirations of so many people who have been waiting for so long for this verdict.
"Corruption cases that implicate top officials always have a spotlight on them and are barometers for the public to judge whether the country's legal system is on the right track," Topo told The Jakarta Post.
He questioned how the judges dealing with terror suspects managed to conclude their cases with in very timely, efficient fashion, even though such cases were actually more complicated than graft scandals.
"The universal legal system recognizes the principle that delaying justice is a violation of justice itself. And this principle can be applied to Akbar or the public," Topo said.
Prominent lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis called the Akbar case a major political scandal and said that it could have serious consequences on the country's political situation.
"I can understand the circumstances around the judges while making a decision. We shouldn't bother with the delay of the verdict as along as it will respect the supremacy of law," he said.