Nurdin's acquittal leads to calls for court shake-up

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The acquittal of businessman and Golkar Party member Nurdin Halid by the South Jakarta District Court drew strong reactions on Friday, with anticorruption critics calling for a performance review and reshuffle of judges at the court.

The Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) slammed the verdict as a mockery of justice, notably since it was handed down by a court that has exonerated defendants of at least 13 major corruption cases over the past few years.

ICW coordinator deputy Danang Widoyoko demanded that the Supreme Court appoint an independent team to examine the controversial verdict, review and reshuffle the judges at the court.

"It's indisputable that the verdict supports even more the public belief that the South Jakarta District Court is a graveyard for big corruption cases," he said.

Nurdin was cleared on Thursday of all charges connected to the misuse of Rp 169.7 billion (US$17.8 million) in state funds allocated for the distribution of cooking oil from the State Logistics Agency (Bulog).

While prosecutors believed Nurdin was guilty of delaying the payment of the funds to Bulog, the judges were convinced that the delay was not his fault because it was decided by the Indonesian Distribution Cooperatives (KDI), which he chairs.

Moreover, the distribution by KDI of cooking oil ahead of Ramadhan and Idul Fitri in 1999 was an official assignment from the government, the judges argued further.

Similar criticism was made by House of Representatives members, who said Nurdin's acquittal was disappointing amid much- hyped nationwide efforts to combat deeply rooted and systematic corruption.

They said Nurdin being cleared of all charges was bizarre after the prosecution had asked that he be jailed for 20 years, fined Rp 30 million and ordered to return the embezzled money.

Anhar Nasution, a legislator from the House's legal commission, urged the Supreme Court to investigate the South Jakarta District Court after a series of acquittals in numerous corruption cases.

"We actually talked about (reviewing and reshuffling judges) with chief justice Bagir Manan during our last hearing. But he said there were several obstacles, such as the lack of new judges," said Anhar.

He also called on the newly endorsed members of the Judicial Commission to review the verdict and take immediate measures to monitor the court.

Seven members of the Judicial Commission were endorsed on Tuesday by the House and await presidential approval.

In a somewhat different tone, House Speaker and Golkar deputy leader Agung Laksono appealed to the public to respect the verdict, saying that no one could interfere with the legal process.

"Not me, not the government, including (Vice President and Golkar leader) Jusuf Kalla. We must respect any court verdict, whether it's innocent or guilty," he said.

Besides the Bulog case, Nurdin is concurrently facing two other graft cases at the North Jakarta District Court. He is accused of having failed to pay taxes of over Rp 25 billion on rice imports from Vietnam, and also of illegally importing 73,000 tons of sugar from Thailand.

For table:

Corruption suspects acquitted by the South Jakarta District Court:

Defendant Case Verdict

Pande Lubis Bank Bali scandal, Prosecutors demand-

thought to have caused Rp 904 ed 4 years. Acquit-

million in state losses ted after judges

ruled no corruption

occurred

Joko Tjandra same case Prosecutors demand-

ed 18 months. Later

acquitted.

Ricardo A land dispute involving Bulog Acquitted by the Gelael and hypermarket Goro, causing district court, but

state losses of Rp 96.6 billion the Supreme Court

handed down an 18-

month jail term.

Hutomo Mandala same case Acquitted by the Putra aka district court. Tommy Soe- harto

Hendrawan Allegedly misused Bank Indo- Acquitted by the Haryono nesia liquidity support funds district court.

in Bank Aspac worth

Rp 96.6 billion

Arifin Allegedly misused funds from Case thrown Panigoro PT Jasindo to Medco out of court.

Sudjono Corruption in state finance firm Acquitted by the Timan PT BPUI worth Rp 369 billion district court. The

Supreme Court gave

15 years in jail.

Ginandjar Alleged misused of technical Settled in a pre- Kartasasmita assistance contract between trial hearing.

PT UPG and state oil firm

Pertamina

Source: ICW