What to expect from Ambon's judiciary

The moustached judge had no intention of playing hero.

Upon receiving notification that he would be transferred to his hometown in war-torn Ambon, Maluku, two years ago, J. Hehamoni tried to stall, saying he intended to study for his doctorate in Denpasar.

But the then minister of justice, the late Baharuddin Lopa, told his subordinates: "He's Ambonese, he has to go."

So Hehamoni went to Ambon after received the decree on his new assignment, with his tearful wife.

On their first day in the capital she immediately repacked their bags the minute she heard a volley of gunshots. "The neighbors laughed and laughed," he said. "They said, 'the shots are still so far away! Pack later when they get closer!'"

Hehamoni joined the district court, bringing the number of judges there to three. Now the court has six judges -- though it may soon be three again with Hehamoni and two colleagues due to be reassigned.

After his time in Maluku, Hehamoni, currently the district court's spokesman, has a few tips to share.

One, stay cool.

Two, "One must be very wise and look carefully at the political nuances behind the legal issues."

Keeping cool and being wise proved extremely useful the day a group of Laskar Jihad (LJ) members filled Hehamoni's fairly small courtroom and pointed at him, shouting, "This is an RMS judge, kill him!"

RMS, or the Republik Maluku Selatan, refers to the separatist movement that was active in the 1950s and was perceived to be Christian dominated. The issue of the RMS was revived by some during the recent conflict in Maluku.

Hehamoni, the only available judge to preside over the tense hearing, finally refused to order the release of LJ leader Ja'far Umar Thalib.

Criminal charges against Ja'far were being heard by the East Jakarta District Court, which had earlier ordered an extension of his detention. Ja'far was arrested in Surabaya on charges of provoking violence while in Ambon in April 2002, allegedly leading an attack on a Christian village.

The court, however, approved Ja'far's objection to an order from the local prosecutor's office to detain him in Ambon. Hehamoni said the order was legally flawed.

A third tip for future judges in Ambon, which Hehamoni did not mention, would be to make sure you have some extra stamina when you are the only judge trying 168 alleged supporters and members of the RMS in the short period determined by the detention deadline.

For the marathon hearings of the alleged RMS members, in which most of the defendants were charged with subversion, Hehamoni said: "The witness pleaded with me to be relieved of his task, but he was about the only witness we had for all the cases."

Hehamoni says a potential time bomb in the province is disputes over property rights, as people begin returning to their homes only to find them occupied by refugees.

This is a pressing matter that must be anticipated, he said.

Judges in Ambon and other conflict areas need not be heroes, but they do need a bit of steel in them. A lawyer here, explaining the shortage of judges, said: "Who wants to be in the spotlight, holding the gavel announcing court verdicts in critical cases?" -- Ati Nurbaiti