Supreme Court probes 3 judges

JAKARTA: The Supreme Court has set up a team to investigate three Makassar high court judges who reduced the jail term of an official convicted of stealing state money allocated for East Timorese refugees in the province.

Justice Abdurrahman Saleh, who heads the court's monitoring division, said the team would comprise Justice Artidjo Alkostar, Justice Ida Bagus Ngurah Adnyana and an assistant.

Chief Justice Bagir Manan ordered the investigation after dozens of East Timorese refugees occupied the Makassar high court last week.

The refugees protested against judges JMT Simatupang, R. Naibaho and NAJ Luhulima for reducing the sentence of the head of the provincial social affairs office from five years to only one- and-a-half years for embezzling part of Rp 42 billion (US$451,600) in financial assistance for the refugees. -- JP