Taufik ready for bribe questioning
Taufik ready for bribe questioning
JAKARTA (JP): Supreme Court Deputy Chief Justice M. Taufik
revealed on Monday that he was ready to face questioning before a
fact finding team investigating allegations of bribery in the
case against Djoko S. Tjandra.
"I am ready to be questioned by the team. Should the President
give her approval to summon me before the Attorney General's
Office, I will go," Taufik told The Jakarta Post and Berita Kota
at his office.
"But if the team fails to find me guilty, I will file a legal
suit against them," Taufik said.
Taufik, along with other justices Artidjo Alkostar, R. Sunu
Wahadi, and the late Sjafiuddin Kartasasmita, was a member of a
panel of justices examining an appeal filed by prosecutor
Antasari Azhar against Djoko S. Tjandra, a suspect of the Bank
Bali corruption case that resulted in some Rp 904 billion in
losses to the state.
As earlier reported, the South Jakarta District Court freed
Djoko, a director of the trading and investment firm PT Era Giat
Prima (EGP), from all charges due to a legal technicality and the
prosecutor's failure to back up his arguments with witness
testimonies.
Antasari, who earlier demanded an 18 month-jail term for
Djoko, then filed an appeal to the High Court over the verdict
but again the court freed Djoko, followed by the Supreme Court
verdict on June 28.
Allegations that Djoko bribed the Justices came to the surface
after Artidjo reportedly had a man claiming to represent Djoko
removed from his office after he tried to bribe Artidjo with some
Rp 20 billion (US$22 million).
The Supreme Court also received a report from the National
Ombudsman Commission which said that two justices -- Taufik and
Sjafiuddin -- had allegedly violated an administrative procedure
by appointing Sunu Wahadi, a junior chief justice, to preside
over the case's examination process.
Soon after receiving the report, Supreme Court Chief Justice
Bagir Manan decided to form a fact finding team comprising
himself, a member of the House of Representatives' Commission II
on Legal and Home Affairs, a noted lawyer, a justice, and junior
chief justice of supervising Mariana Sutadi.
The team, however, has yet to commence the investigation.
"Such allegations are aimed at humiliating me. I am not
concerned as I believe that the country is still upholding
supremacy of the law," Taufik said. (tso)