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)