Syamsul, no friend of corruptors

T. Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

Judge Syamsul Qomar's moral strength was put to the test when he handled a corruption case in Singkil, a regency in East Aceh.

"The defendants offered me a bribe. They sent money through some people in exchange for a light sentence," he said.

Unmoved, Syamsul gave each of the three defendants a life sentence, instead.

The verdict was handed down last year when he presided over a trial in Singkil District Court against the local council speaker, a businessman and a treasurer of the Singkil regency in a graft case involving Rp 4 billion.

Earlier this week, the committee for the Bung Hatta Anticorruption Award honored Syamsul, the chief of Langsa District Court in East Aceh, for his efforts to fight corruption. Three other people also received the award: Karaniya Dharmasaputra, a reporter of Koran Tempo daily, Muhamad Yamin, head of the training center at the Attorney General's Office and Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, former president director of PT Timah Tbk.

Corruption is one of the most serious problems in Indonesia -- so bad that many worry that the country may collapse because the rampant practice of corruption has involved not only government officials, businessmen and other people, but also law enforcers.

Many judges have been criticized for handing down controversial verdicts in corruption cases as they have given light sentences for people found guilty of causing the state to suffer billions or even trillions of rupiah in financial losses.

It is no secret that the defendants, their lawyers, the prosecutors and the judges often conspire during the trial as money talks.

"A judge faces many temptations. You have to be strict because once you are tempted, the law becomes toothless and meaningless," Syamsul, 42, told The Jakarta Post, puffing on his clove cigarette during the interview.

According to Syamsul, the law is abstract and it will have a meaning to the people if judges and other law enforcers give it "color" by implementing it properly.

He quashed the argument that poor enforcement in the country has something to do with the low salary of law enforcers.

A judge receives the highest allowances among other civil servants and a newly appointed judge receives a total of between Rp 2 million and Rp 2.5 million a month. Compared to the salary of a judge in another country, it is very small.

"But you cannot make that an excuse. The more you earn, the more you spend," he said.

According to Syamsul, the practice of corruption is rampant because of the poor monitoring system and weak law implementation.

Troubled Aceh is facing not only security problems, but also corruption.

"After the implementation of the autonomy law, corruption has become more rampant. Formerly, especially during the New Order administration, corruption mainly involved the executives, but now, it also involves councillors," he said.

Another problem that makes if difficult to fully enforce the law in Aceh is the lack of judges. Due to security problems, many judges had fled the area, which has experienced prolonged conflict with the resistance of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the people who were angry with the brutality during the period of the military operation from 1989 until 1998 that claimed some 10,000 lives. Security remained a problem after GAM and the government failed to reach an agreement, followed by the imposition of martial law earlier this year.

When Syamsul was assigned to Langsa three years ago, he was the only judge there but last year, the government started to send more judges to Aceh. Now, there are four judges in Langsa while, according to Syamsul, Langsa needs a total of six judges. Most of the cases handled by the Langsa District Court were attempts to topple the government. The court has completed five such cases and it is still handling seven other cases.

He said that he never handled any corruption case in Langsa, even though this does not mean that Langsa is free of corruption.

"As a judge, I only handle cases that are sent to the court. The investigation of the corruption cases is handled by the police and state prosecutors," said Syamsul, adding that they should work harder in the investigation of corruption cases.

Syamsul, who was born and grew up in Aceh, is a graduate of the Islamic University of Yogyakarta.

"Actually, I wanted to become a lecturer. Being a judge was my second option," he said, "But I like my job. I like meeting people and talking with them."

He started his career as a judge in Lubuk Basung, West Sumatra in 1991. Four years later he was transferred to Tanjung Pati, also in the same province, and in 1999 he became a senior judge in Lhokseumawe, Aceh, before being promoted as chief of the Langsa District Court the following year. As the number of judges in the area was limited, he was also assigned to handle cases outside his jurisdiction, like when he presided over the corruption trial in Singkil.

Besides being tempted by money, Syamsul had also experienced threats and intimidation. During the trial of the corruption case, an unknown caller threatened to bomb the court. Several people also came to his house in an apparent attempt to terrorize him.

"Fortunately I was not home," he said.

In anticipation of such incidents, Syamsul said that he sometimes spent the night at his friends' house or took a taxi to his office.

Earlier this year, he bought a house in Bekasi, east of Jakarta, and sent his wife, Pramuheni, and two of their three sons there for security reasons. His eldest child, who lives with him in Langsa, is a senior high school student, while the other two children are both in the elementary school.

"I rarely visit them, but it's OK with us," said Syamsul, who communicates with his wife through her mobile phone because the house in Bekasi does not have a telephone line.