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"The three will be withdrawn from the district court and stand trial in court if they are found guilty of taking the bribe," he said, explaining that the case arose after the government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.