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