Syafiuddin was a quiet, humble person: Family

Syafiuddin was a quiet, humble person: Family

JAKARTA (JP): Before Thursday, one could only have imagined it
as a scene from the movie The Godfather or from a John Grisham
novel.

A judge, who handled top criminal cases and was renowned for
refusing bribes, was assassinated in broad daylight during
morning rush hour.

It would not happen here, we all thought - maybe in Sicily,
but not here.

But on Thursday morning, Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita
was fatally shot in the head and chest, while driving to work at
the Supreme Court. He was 61 years old.

It was a shock, particularly for fellow law enforcers.

Syafiuddin's last position was deputy chief justice for
general crimes.

He headed the panel of judges that sentenced former president
Soeharto's son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who is still at
large.

He was also a member of the panel of justices who freed
Soeharto from house arrest and stipulated that the defendant
should be tried once he was fit. Syafiuddin also sentenced the
former president's golfing buddy, Mohammad "Bob" Hasan.

Syafiuddin had reportedly complained about how people often
tried to offer him bribes.

"Bapak (father) never discussed any case he was handling with
us," Syafiuddin's only son, Aries Achdiat, 25, told The Jakarta
Post on Friday.

His eyes were red and his face was weary, but he was calm, no
longer distraught as he was earlier on Thursday when he saw his
father's body.

Aries continued that his two sisters, Anna Maria, 31 and Aida
Agra Putri, 18 and himself only found out about the cases handled
by his father from newspapers.

"After that we asked him about it, but he only gave brief
information," said Aries, a law school graduate.

"He was just like that. Quiet, never talked much. But we got
along well... He always gave us our freedom, what we wanted to do
or to be," he said.

Aries then recalled how his family moved from town to town,
following Syafiuddin's post as a judge before settling in the
capital in the late 1980s.

He paused for a moment when asked about the most memorable
father-son moment.

"We used to fish a lot, before I went to university. But then
we both became busy. We didn't live in the same house anymore,"
said Aries, who now works in a law consultants office.

He said that the last time he saw his father before the
tragedy was two weeks earlier and added that there was no hunch
or sign that his father was going to die.

Aries has been living with his younger sister in a house his
father bought in Depok to be near his former campus at the
University of Indonesia. While Syafiuddin lived in the judicial
authorities' housing complex in Sunter, North Jakarta.

"We leave it up to God, now. Yes, we are still shocked, but
there's nothing else we can do...," he said.

Hundreds of people came to Syafiuddin's house on Friday to
mourn.

Relatives and family who had not seen him for years poured
into the house, to pay their last respects to the man they
described as "quiet and modest".

"He was a deputy judge when we were posted in Ciamis, West
Java. Syafiuddin never talked much, but worked hard. We worked
together for just six months before he was promoted," said a
colleague named Ruwiyanto, who is now retired.

Meanwhile, Syafiuddin's younger brother Saman Kartasasmita
said that his late brother, while quiet, got along well with
anyone, including drivers and maids.

"But he never used a driver even though his office provided
this facility. He always drove himself. The driver was usually
for his wife, So'imah," Saman told the Post.

Saman added that the family did not intend to sue anyone or
press police to investigate the case.

"There are many cases that are important, but are never
solved. We entrust it to God. We see it as a risk that came with
the job. It's like the police who risk getting shot by robbers,
we see it that way," he said. (hdn)