The judiciary mafia

The judiciary "mafia" (gang) in Indonesia is like the wind: trees tumble, but it is impossible to catch the wind. And the one party who keeps denying that the wind exists is the government.

Monday, though, the denials came to an end. President Abdurrahman Wahid, whether on the basis of facts or assumptions, acknowledged that 90 percent of cases in Indonesian courts are won by those who have the money to pay. Minister of Justice Baharuddin Lopa confirmed Abdurrahman's statement.

This is a very rare case of honesty. The government, which had all along protected the wind on the pretext of the principle of the presumption of innocence, finally admitted that the wind exists. Even that the wind, which for so long had seemed to be moved by an invisible hand, turned out to be the government's own possession.

The face of our judiciary and of justice in this country have for so long been tarnished because no one was willing to admit that corruption and collusion actually occurred in our courts. Judges and prosecutors vied with each other to convince the public that they were working honestly.

Eliminating the judiciary mafias is one of the vital jobs President Abdurrahman Wahid must accomplish. The country's current deep and multidimensional crisis is rooted in the unwillingness and inability of our leaders to stamp out corruption.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta