The legal system no longer works

The legal system no longer works

Lawyer Hotma Sitompul would seem to have a point when he
argued (as he did so vehemently on the 7 p.m. TVRI news the other
night) that alleged corruption cases should be processed through
established legal channels. In a country with a functioning legal
system, this would be a valid viewpoint.

What he chose to ignore (and he, or all people, surely know
this) is that at present the entire legal system in Indonesia is
a tool of the status quo. From police investigations, to the work
of the public prosecutor's office, to the court trial, there are
often indications of interference from the executive branch or
from other powerful and wealthy parties in society. Shouting and
waving one's arms does not strengthen the credibility of an
argument based on fallacious assumptions.

I pray that I may be proven wrong in this. But there is little
hope of this under the present government.

It should be noted that proponents of the following legal
procedures also constantly call for the presumption of innocence
(note in which cases they do call for this, and in which other
cases it is ignored). In countries with Anglo-Saxon legal
systems, the presumption that the accused is innocent until
proven guilty applies once the case has come to trial. How can
any investigation ever take place if it is assumed that the party
concerned is innocent?

TED THORNTON

Jakarta