Soerjono appointed new chief justice

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has selected Soerjono to replace Chief Justice Poerwoto S. Gandasubrata, who will soon go into retirement.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono announced here yesterday that the President signed Soerjono's appointment on Monday.

Soerjono, 63, is now deputy chief justice in charge of traditional civil cases.

His only rival for the vacancy was M. Djaelani, 63, also a deputy chief justice. Djaelani created headlines in 1991, when the national commission he led investigated the bloody clash between demonstrators and troops in East Timor and announced its findings.

The nomination of Soerjono and Djaelani was decided by the House of Representatives last month.

Soerjono, who was born in Central Java in 1931, graduated from the School of Law of the University of Indonesia, Jakarta, in 1956. He took advanced courses on human rights in 1971 and administrative law in 1990.

Soerjono began his career as state prosecutor, later becoming a judge. Soerjono joined the Supreme Court in 1992. (tis)