Supreme Court collusion
Surprisingly, the report on alleged collusion between a Supreme Court judge and a defendant in a document fraud case involving Rp 1.4 billion disclosed by the biweekly magazine Forum Keadilan early this week did not shock the public. It is as if the public expects such things to happen because this is not the first case of alleged collusion in the Supreme Court. Thus when the alleged scandal was disclosed, it did not cause as big a bang as it should have.
Yes, it did make headlines and has caused rumbles, and certainly for the next few weeks the media will continue to work on it, but the public's response seems somehow closer to a mix of "relief" and skepticism. Relief because the report supports the well established view of just how frayed our current judiciary system is. One might call this ironic because it shows how deep the skepticism among the public is concerning the state of law enforcement in this country. Many believe that this case will simply be closed after a formal investigation "due to insufficient evidence", and that after some time it will be forgotten. Perhaps the public has every reason for doubt. For years we have heard of the so-called "court mafia" through which almost any lawsuit can be fixed as long as a certain amount of money changes hands. Practically all parties in lawsuits -- defendants, prosecutors, judges, court clerks and lawyers -- are involved in such schemes. And it occurs not only in lower courts, but also in the higher courts and the Supreme Court.
It is a "public secret" here that practically all rules can be bent. So widespread is this rule bending that people here used to joke "If Britain rules the waves, Indonesia waives the rules". The result is simply an endless list of tragedies. In many cases the rich are declared innocent, while the poor --those who could not pay the bribes-- have to go to jail.
How can we believe there is no such thing as a "court mafia", when so many lawyers and law officers have acknowledged its existence? The former Chief Justice Asikin Kusumah Atmadja, for example, said a few years ago that the court mafia does indeed exist, and that as many as 50 percent of Indonesian judges are "corrupt". And prominent lawyer Todung Mulia Lubis once said that he believed the percentage is probably "much higher".
Most judges deny the allegation. The current Chief Justice Soerjono said that the allegation of the existence of the "judiciary mafia" is groundless, while former chief justice Purwoto Gandasubrata prefers the term "collusion" to mafia.
Whatever the case, the fact remains that our Supreme Court, which is considered by many as the last bastion of the law, is not immune to social ills such as corruption and collusion. The question is, how can we extract ourselves from the quagmire once we have sunk neck-deep into this pit?
Two years ago the government generously double raised the salary of judges in the hope that this would strengthen their "resilience" against "temptations" from outside. Yet, reports on collusion continue to emerge.
Still, we should not totally loose faith in our judicial system. Now and then, there are still slivers of silver among the clouds. Last year's Jakarta Administrative Court's decision followed by the Jakarta Higher Administrative Court's decision on the Tempo case, for example, proved that there is still hope for us after all.
Everybody knows that the one and only solution to the problem is to stop the rhetoric and take real action. What we lack is the political will from high up. In this context, perhaps we are "lucky" to be listed as number three among the most corrupt countries in Asia. Of course, it is a shame, and if nothing is done, someday we may end up on the top of the list.