UN legal investigator meets Indonesian judges

UN legal investigator meets Indonesian judges

Reuters, Jakarta

A UN investigator met several supreme court judges in Jakarta on Tuesday as part of a 10-day fact-finding mission looking into judicial corruption and the independence of the judiciary.

The visit to Indonesia by United Nations special rapporteur Param Cumaraswamy, who arrived in the capital on Monday, comes amid several court cases against high profile Indonesians and concerns by independent lawyers over a perceived lack of genuine legal reform.

"He arrived yesterday (Monday) at 11 o'clock so has only had a handful of meetings....with some Supreme Court judges, some NGOs and had a courtesy call with the foreign ministry," his aide said.

Cumaraswamy is scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda on Wednesday and the attorney general and other leading government and judicial figures later in the week.

He will present a report on his visit to the U.N. Human Rights Commission next April.

Indonesia's legal system has been criticized over issues ranging from lack of transparency to unpredictability and was dealt a fresh blow last month by a controversial bankruptcy ruling against the country's fourth largest life insurer, Manulife Indonesia.

Parent company Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corp alleged bribery influenced the ruling by the Jakarta Commercial Court on June 13. Indonesia is probing the allegations.

Indonesia's Supreme Court last week overturned the Manulife ruling but some foreign investors say they remain worried by a lack of legal certainty.

Prosecutors' demands on Monday for a 15-year jail term for former President Soeharto's favorite son for allegedly masterminding a murder, possessing illegal arms and evading a graft conviction also sparked controversy.

The non-governmental organization Judicial Watch Indonesia said the sentence demanded for Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra showed prosecutors were not totally confident of their case against him and branded the trial a joke.