Soerjono urged to pull bid on Adi's dismissal

Soerjono urged to pull bid on Adi's dismissal

JAKARTA (JP): More protests were directed against Chief
Justice Soerjono for recently requesting President Soeharto to
dismiss Justice Adi Andojo Soetjipto for tarnishing the Supreme
Court's name.

A number of legal and student activists demanded yesterday
that Soerjono retract his request, as it would only damage the
image of Indonesia's judicial system further. There are no
grounds on which Adi -- who blew the whistle on collusion and
corruption at the Court -- could be dismissed, they said.

Munir of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute said that Law No.
14/1985, which Soerjono cited as the basis for his request,
cannot be used to dismiss the senior judge.

"The law doesn't rule that a senior judge can be dismissed
just because he alleged that collusion took place in the Supreme
Court," Munir said in a petition sent to Soerjono yesterday, a
copy of which was made available to The Jakarta Post.

"The foundation demands that the chief justice withdraw his
proposal to the President," he said.

The government acknowledged last week that President Soeharto
had received Chief Justice Soerjono's request that Adi be
discharged.

The request marked the culmination of a public row between
Soerjono and Adi over allegations of collusion in the Supreme
Court.

Adi had been going public with his statements that collusion
practices were rife, while Soerjono said there was no evidence to
support the claim. The chief justice later ordered Justice Adi to
desist, saying that his talking to the press was undermining the
integrity of the Court itself.

Criticism against Soerjono also came yesterday from the
Muhammadiyah Moslem organization. Hajriyanto T. Thohari of its
youth wing said Soerjono had no legal basis on which to call for
Adi's dismissal.

He also chided Supreme Court spokesman Toton Suprapto for his
statement that it was "the manner" in which Adi disclosed the
alleged collusion the Court found most unacceptable.

Separately, Adi said that the manner in which Soerjono drew up
the proposal to dismiss him was unacceptable.

"Had Chief Justice Soerjono honestly recognized that the
alleged collusion and bribery did take place, I would have
remained silent and not talked to the press," Adi said.

Adi blamed Soerjono for not taking on the responsibility of
explaining the collusion allegation himself, but delegating it to
Tonton instead.

Earlier in the day, five students representing five youth
organizations called on Soerjono to reconsider his proposal. The
organizations were the Association of Indonesian Moslem Students,
the Indonesian Islamic Students Movement, the student association
Pijar, the Forum of Indonesian Law Studies, and the Jakarta
Institute for Islamic Studies.

Fauzi Syarif Rangkuti, who led the delegation meeting Toton,
said that dismissing Adi would not solve the problem of collusion
in the Supreme Court and the Indonesian judicial system in
general.

Instead, the move would only increase public distrust in the
Supreme Court, he said.

Toton told the students to wait for President Soeharto's
decision on the matter. (imn/16)