RI's legal system too timid

For the record, judges in Indonesia have been showing some backbone lately. The trouble is, as much as they've been lauded for a willingness to render tough decisions, they've also been criticized for the perceived leniency of the sentences they hand out.

First there was the former governor of East Timor, who was found guilty of failing to prevent human-rights abuses by his subordinates and handed a three-year sentence. Then there was Tommy Soeharto's 15-year sentence for ordering the assassination of a judge. Now, Golkar bigwig and parliamentary speaker Akbar Tandjung has been slapped with a three-year sentence in a corruption case involving Rp 40 billion -- about US$4 million -- of funds from the state logistics agency, Bulog. Akbar maintains his innocence and is appealing the court decision.

What happened in the Akbar case? For months, the Bulog funds meant for the poor were alleged to have been used by Golkar. Yet when the case came to trial, the alleged connection with Golkar was not pursued. One of Akbar's two co-defendants said he had stashed away the money, and then paid it all back. Bizarre as all this was, prosecutors decided not to pursue any possible money trail.

As Indonesia's legal system starts to move towards reform, the next hurdle to overcome is the timidity of judges and prosecutors. Whenever prudent, Indonesians should be able to expect their prosecutors to pursue cases forcefully, and for judges to be tough. Still, there is no shortage of opportunity for the legal system to prove itself. A start has been made; it needs to be pushed along.

-- The Far Eastern Economic Review, Hong Kong