Probe into justices over bribery case continues

Probe into justices over bribery case continues

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman affirmed on
Wednesday that the Joint Anticorruption Team (TGPTPK) would
continue to investigate a bribery case in which two serving and
one retired Supreme Court justices have been implicated.

He said that although the Supreme Court on March 23 annulled a
government regulation in lieu of law which had been the legal
grounds for the establishment of the joint team, it still had
another three months before the court's decision took effect.

"The joint team is still investigating the bribery case," he
told The Jakarta Post by phone.

The attorney general is coordinator of the team.

Earlier in the day, the Central Jakarta District Court was
forced to adjourn the trial of a defamation lawsuit filed by the
two serving justices as defendant Endin Wahyudin, who had earlier
reported the three suspects to the anticorruption team, failed to
show up.

Prosecutor Hasan Madani told the court a subpoena had been
sent last Wednesday to Endin at his residence in Bandung advising
him to appear in court. The prosecutor said he had not received a
response from the defendant.

Hasan told journalists that Endin was charged under the
Criminal Code's Article 311 on slander which carries a maximum
sentence of four years in prison.

Judge Saparuddin, acting on behalf of presiding judge
Amiruddin who was attending a human rights tribunal course,
adjourned the trial until April 23.

Endin reported to the government-sanctioned Anticorruption
Team last year that retired Justice M. Yahya Harahap and justices
Supraptini Sutarto and Marnis Kahar were involved in a Rp 196
million (US$19,600) bribery case.

Endin said he delivered Rp 96 million in cash to Justice
Harahap's residence, while Supraptini and Marnis received Rp 50
million each at their offices in November 1998. He alleged that
they had been paid to rule in favor of Sunata Sumali alias
Sunanham in a dispute over a 17,000-square-meter plot of land in
the West Java capital of Bandung against plaintiff Aminah.

Supraptini and Marnis then filed a complaint with the National
Police against Endin for slander. They also said that Endin had
nothing to do with the land dispute handled by the three
justices.

The two also reported then TGPTPK chairman Adi Andojo
Soetjipto for defamation to the police.

Supraptini and Marnis' defense team claimed on Wednesday that
Endin did not qualify as a witness in the bribery case since he
was involved in the case. They also claimed that the defendant
was a middle man who acted as a mediator between judges and those
involved in a case.

The lawyers also claimed that Endin had retracted his
statement on the alleged bribery case in a letter sent to Marzuki
on April 4. In the letter, he apparently apologized for his
mistake and any oversight regarding his report on the three
justices to TGPTPK.

"As a logical consequence of this new fact, the Attorney
General's Office should stop its investigation," lawyer John
Waliry said after the trial, adding that his clients were willing
to continue with the trial.

Marzuki said he had not received Endin's letter.

Andojo, who resigned from his post in TGPTPK after saying
there was a lack of support for the team, said that even if Endin
withdrew his statement, the investigation should go on because it
dealt with corruption.

Andojo told the Post that Endin had initially refused to sign
his statement, but later agreed after being told of the legal
consequences of hampering an investigation.

Supraptini and Marnis had earlier filed with the Central
Jakarta District Court a motion questioning the legal status of
the joint team to conduct such an investigation.

Last September, the court ordered the joint team to drop its
investigation into the case, saying that the team had acted
beyond its authority by probing corruption cases that took place
prior to 1999.

The antigraft team, which was set up by Marzuki and inducted
by President Abdurrahman Wahid in May 2000, is an embryo
organization of the Commission to Eradicate Corruption mandated
by the 1999 anticorruption law.

The team has made it a priority to eradicate corruption in the
judicial system, including the Supreme Court and district courts.
(bby)