Three Medan judges suspended

Three Medan judges suspended

The Jakarta Post, Medan

A panel of judges at the district court in the North Sumatra city
of Medan have been suspended for allegedly taking a Rp 150
million bribe from a narcotics dealer.

Slamet Riyanto, chief of the North Sumatra High Court, said
here on Friday that the three have been temporarily suspended
until the ongoing investigation into the alleged bribery was
completed.

"The three will be withdrawn from the district court and stand
trial in court if they are found guilty of taking the bribe," he
said, explaining that the case arose after the government
prosecutor's office submitted a note of protest to the High
Court.

Judges Kamariah, D. Brahmana and J. Nababan were temporarily
suspended after they admitted changing their decision on the
defendant named Suhandi alias Jonny from a 14-year prison
sentence into a city arrest.

Slamet said that during the preliminary investigation, the
three who tried the narcotics case last month, changed the
verdict because of a report from the defendant's lawyers that
their client was sick.

But there were no necessary documents from hospitals and
doctors that the defendant was suffering from a serious disease.

Meanwhile, Syarifuddin, chairman of the local office of the
Bar Association, called on the High Court to handle the case
seriously in order to restore the court's image.

"Many people no longer believe in the court because of the
rampant corruption and power abuse among law enforcers in the
province," he said.

He said, however, the law allows the panel of judges to ask
the prosecutor's office to postpone the verdict's execution if
the defendant had plausible reasons and the defendant pays a bond
into court.

"In this case, there is an indication that the judges have
taken the bribe because according to the law, judges are not
allowed to change their verdicts," he said.