The Dirty Judges

The concept of Rule of Law is adopted by most democratic countries of the world, emphasizing on the upholding on of the following basic principles :
-  Supremacy of Law
-  Equality before the Law
-  Human Rights protection

As a consequence, Judges of the Courts of Law must consists of high quality people who uphold the above principles and morality so that they can make wise and fair decisions/verdicts.

Considering the above, I was very upset when I read on the news media that in the first three months of 2012 (January - March) , 28 Judges have been punished by the Supreme Court. And this number is growing bigger as time goes by, the latest one being the Head of South Sumatera High Court M. Daming Sunusi who thinks that Rape is an act of fun enjoyed by the Rapist and the Victim.

What make me more upset is the opinion of former Chief of the Constitutional Court Jimly Assiddiquie that Daming should not be severely punished because what said was just a slip of the tongue not intentionally.
Hmmm ..... as the Head of a High Court with 24 years experience as Judge, Daming has no right to talk that way about Rape to anybody especially to members of the People's Consultative Council.

We can only hope that the Supreme Court would do its best to make sure that the Judges are doing their job properly so that Indonesia would be a lot much better place to live in.

Picture :  Courtesy of Bestuff.

The Arrest of Angie

After he was arrested in Colombia several months ago, Nazaruddin told the Commission for Eradication of Corruption (KPK) that there were some top officials in President SBY's Democrat Party who were involved with him in the alleged Athlete Housing Bribery and other Corruption cases.

Among the names mentioned were Democrat Party Chief Anas Urbaningrum and Deputy Secretary General Angelina Sondakh a.k.a Angie the Miss Indonesia 2001.

Based on this revelation, politicians and the news media urged KPK to immediately investigations on those persons. So, on 3 February 2012, KPK announced Angie as a Suspect based the Anti-Corruption Law.

After that KPK focused on prosecuting Nazaruddin to the Court, and did not seem to take further actions on Angie and the others, which angered politicians.

Last Friday, 27 April 2012, the KPK finally arrested Angie. Suara Karya quoted KPK Spokesman Johan Budi as saying that Angie is arrested for alleged corruption in the Ministry of Education, and she will remain in its custody for 20 days.

Kompas reported that Angie's lawyer Teuku Nasrullah protested the arrest because KPK only issued Investigation Order after the arrest, while actually it should be done before it named Angie as a Suspect more than 2 months ago.

I hope that the arrest of Angie is purely based on legal grounds as stated by KPK, and not merely because of pressures from the news media and politicians.

Is KFC safe ?

KFC a.k.a Kentucky Fried Chicken is a well known fast food franchise that has more than 14,000 outlets in more than 80 countries of the world.

The first KFC outlet in Indonesia was opened in Melawai area, South Jakarta, in October 1978, by the sole franchise holder i.e PT. Fastfood Indonesia Tbk (Gelael group). Since then, KFC has won the hearts of millions of people in Indonesia, and grown quite rapidly.

Kompas quoted the General Manager Business Development of PT. Fastfood Gandhi Lie as saying that by the end of this year there will be 460 KFC outlets in Indonesia.

Apart from the general issues about bad things that fast food products might cause to their consumers, so far there has not been any bad news about KFC and/or its products in Indonesia.

For that reason I was very surprised when I read on The Jakarta Globe  that KFC has been ordered by the New South Wales Supreme Court (Australia) to pay compensation amounting to US$ 8.3 Million to Monika Samaan who suffered severe brain damage and was paralyzed after eating a chicken wrap.

Monika was seven when she suffered Salmonella Encephalopathy i.e. a brain injury linked to food poisoning that also left her with a blood infection  and septic shock in October 2005.

Her family, who also fell ill, claimed that Monika's injuries were caused by a "Twister" wrap containing chicken and salad from a KFC outlet in Sydney.

As a person whose family have been consuming KFC products for so many years, I sincerely hope that the Department of Health would immediately inspect KFC outlets in Indonesia to make sure that their products are safe for consumption.

The Latest Fight Against Corruption

During the trial of Nunun Nurbaeti at the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court last Monday, the Prosecutors of the Commission for Eradication of Corruption (KPK) demanded the Court to punish her to four years in Jail, pay Rp 200 Million Fine, and Confiscate the amount of Rp 1 Billion.

Although her lawyers protested, but Nunun looked so happy, this is obvious because the jail term was one year lighter than the maximum ruled by the Anti-Corruption Law. Moreover, the Prosecutor did not mention her effort to avoid legal charges by leaving the country for two and half years.

The 61 years old wife of former Deputy Chief of Police Adang Darajatun is on trial for allegedly bribing 28 members of the House of Representatives with Rp 480 Billion in travelers checks. The checks were given after the members voted for Miranda Gultom in an election for Senior Deputy Governor of the Bank of Indonesia in 2004.

This is the second time that a Defendant was punished lightly after the Corruption Court sentenced former Treasurer of President SBY's Democrat Party i.e. Nazaruddin to four years and ten months in jail and a fine of Rp 200 Million for receiving Bribe of Rp 4.6 Billion in the Athlete Housing case last Friday.

This Court's sentence was much lighter than demanded by the KPK Prosecutor i.e. seven years in jail and fine of Rp 300 Million.

Beside the above crime, Nazaruddin must still face other legal charges such as the alleged money laundering in the purchase of Garuda Shares, the Hambalang case.

The above mentioned Prosecutors's Demand in Nunun's case and Court Verdict in Nazaruddin's case and other previous Court Verdicts (please click here) show that we are far from winning the fight against Corruption.

We can only hope that in the future the KPK would always do their very best to prepare every Corruption cases properly, obtain strong and convincing evidences before they brought them to the Court, and demand heavier punishments.

I would prefer that KPK's Prosecutor would always demand very heavy penalty, including Life or even Death Sentence, that way the Court can be expected to consider passing heavier Sentences.

Darsem spared from Death Execution

A Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has spared an Indonesian worker i.e Darsem, from death execution after the Indonesian government paid a compensation of Rp 4.6 Billion (US$ 534,000.00).

According to The Jakarta Globe, Darsem from Subang-West Java, was convicted on May 2009 and sentenced to death despite her plea that she had killed her boss in self-defense because he had attempted to rape her.

Last January, the victim’s family forgave Darsem and agreed to spare her, but only if she could afford to pay the above mentioned compensation.

I am very happy with this news because I thought that a court's death sentence can only be cancelled by a superior court or by pardon given by the head of state, not by the victim's family pardon and compensation to them.

I wonder whether the bloodshed that has been going on for many years in the Arab world could be settled this way (by pardon and paying compensation).

Corruption Court for every Provinces

In an effort to increase the efforts to eradicate the widespread corruption in Indonesia, the Supreme Court has planned to build one Corruption Court in every province.

Pos Kota quoted the Chief Justice Harifn Tumpa as saying that at present there are already 18 Coruption Courts in 18 provinces, therefore we still need 12-14 more. And he is very optimistic that they will all be ready by the end of this year, because the budged for that is ready.

Considering that there are so many Corruption cases involving local government officers in the provinces, I agree that the existence of Corruption Courts in every provinces would help expedite the handling of Corruption in those provinces.

In order to do that, the said Courts and local law enforcement agencies should be ready, and highly qualified, tough Court Judges and officers, as well as KPK, Prosecutors and Police must also be available.

Frankly speaking, I am not sure that preparations for all that can be completed within a very short time.

The Court Houses maybe ready by the end of this year, but how about highly qualified and tough Court Judges and officers, and law enforcement officers ?

A Saudi Court Acquitted Maid Torturer

An appellate Court in Medina, Saudi Arabia, last Saturday acquitted a Saudi woman who had been sentenced to three years in jail after being found guilty of torturing her Indonesian maid i.e. Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa (23).

According to Arab News,  the Court judge  "said there was no evidence that the 53-year-old woman tortured her maid, Sumiati Binti Salan Mustapa, 23, while her lawyer said he would seek damages for his client."

"The court suspected the truth of the accusations made by the maid because she refused to take her oath in court," the Saudi woman's lawyer, Ahmad Al-Rashid, told Arab News..

In January, the Indonesian Consulate in Jeddah appealed against the verdict of a lower Court that sentenced the Saudi woman only three-years in jail for stabbing, beating and burning Sumiati, because it has considered the sentence as being "too light."

The English Speaking media quoted a spokesman of the Indonesian Consulate in Jeddah, Didi Wahyudi, as saying on Monday that an appeal would be lodged with the higher court soon regarding the case. 

Frankly speaking, I am not surprised at the above mentioned Court verdicts, because Saudi Arabia is a very closed country ruled by an absolute authoritarian monarchy, therefore almost impossible the expect a fair court verdict.

I am also not surprised at the fact that organizations like PKS, FPI, FUI have been silent on this case.

Long Distance Testimony

The trial of Abubakar Ba'asyir at the District Court of South Jakarta last week was filled with harsh protests by Ba'asyir as the Defendant and his team of lawyers.

One of the things they protested was the Council of Judges's decision to allow the Witnesses to testify without appearing physically in Court but through teleconference.

In this regards I would like to share what blogger-lawyer Anggara has wrote on his blog: http://anggara.org.
Anggara quoted Hukumonline as saying that the use teleconference in the trial violate the Criminal Prosedural Law (KUHAP) which stipulated that Witnesses must testify by appearing pshycally in Court.

The KUHAP may not mention about the possibility of using Teleconference in Court Trial, but there is the Witness and Victim Law No. 13/2006 with enable the Hearing of Witness to be carried out through teleconference.
And in this case, the Prosecutors have stated that the purpose of witness hearing through teleconference is to safeguard the safety of the Witness.

The said Law does not specifically rule that the teleconference witness hearing can be done on condition that the witness is under protection, but for the sake of fair trial it would better if the council of judges ask the Prosecutor to explain why must the hear be done through teleconference, and allow the defendant and his lawyers to raise their objection.

Although in the end the judges would decide to allow the teleconference, but the defendant and his lawyers would not be protesting very harshly because they have already been given the chance to raise objection.

Susno the Whistle Blower

Yesterday, Prosecutors at the South Jakarta District Court has demanded the court to sentence former Chief of Detectives of the National Police Comnr Gen. Susno Duadji 7 years in Jail and pay Fine of 500 Million Rupiah.

The prosecutors indicted Susno for allegedly receiving bribes amounting to 500 million Rupiah from a legal case broker and another bribe he allegedly received  when he was Chief of Regional Police in West Java in 2001.

Many people, especially his lawyers and the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW), said that the demand was wrong because most witnesses have testified in favor of Susno in the court  trial.

They suspected that the demand was part of a conspiracy to silence Susno who has revealed many big crimes against the state such as tax crimes committed by former Taxman Gayus Tambunan and 151 companies he handled, involvement of high ranking Police officers etc.

Beside that, Susno has testified in favor of former Chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Antasari Azhar who was later sentenced to jail for murder of a director of state own company.

In my opinion, Susno Duadji is a very unique person. When he was still Chief of Detectives, Susno has expressively shown animosity toward the KPK which he dubbed as Gecko compared with the Police which he dubbed as Crocodile. He was so mad at the KPK after they found that Susno has helped the release of big sum of money to a suspect in the Bank Century case.

Considering the above, I hope that Susno and his team of lawyers would present a statement of defense supported by evidences that would convince the Court judges.

The Alanda Kariza Story

Alanda Kariza (Right) and her mother (Left)

Alanda Kariza (19) is an Indonesian writer who published her first novel at the age of 14, and has been appointed as our country's representative in international youth activities.

Recently, Alanda wrote an emotional plea : "Mother, 10 years in Jail, Rp 10 Billion" on her blog after the Prosecutors at the Central Jakarta District Court demanded a 10-years Jail term and 10 Billion Rupiah Fine for her mother, Arga Tirta Kirana, former Head of Legal Division of Bank Century, on 25 January.

Here are some parts of her writing that I quoted from The Jakarta Globe :

“ Mother is alleged to have been involved in the disbursement of a number of problematic credits, dubbed command credits’ because the funds were withdrawn without the required procedures. A number of credits were withdrawn without mother’s signature as the head of the legal corporate division. It doesn’t make sense.”

She said that the 'command credit' was based on the order Robert Tantular, the bank's majority shareholder and Hermanus Hasan Muslim, the bank's former President Director..
She said that her mother did not deserve to be jailed longer than Tantular who is serving a nine-year sentence for bank fraud, Hermanus only six years, and the infamous former tax man Gayus Tambunan, sentenced to just seven years in jail.

What surprised me was that although she was charged with a crime that carries a 10 years jail term, however she was not arrested. Usually the Police and Prosecutors arrest suspects of crimes that carries a minimum of 5-years jail term based on the Criminal Procedural Law. Besides, she implied that her mother has been preparing a Defense Statement to counter the Prosecutor's demand.

In order to know more, I visited the blog of lawyer Anggara and read the post Belajar dari Tulisan Alanda Kariza (Learning from Alanda Kariza's Writing) which mentioned that Alanda's mother has been defended by a team of lawyers that includes the famous Humphrey Djemat.
Later on, I read on Primair Online Humphrey Djemat helped Arga Tirta Kirana in the court case on Pro Bono basis, because they both studied Law together at the University of Indonesia. 

Alanda's above mentioned writing has drawn people's sympathy to her mother, which can be seen from the comments in Twitter, Facebook, TV, and the appearance of many supporters during the trial last Thursday. At that day Arga presented her Defence Statement to the Court explaining among others that she start working with Bank Century in 2005, about things which happened not according to procedure such as credits withdrawn from the bank, or appointment of her assistants, but were based on instructions from Robert Tantular and Hermanus Hasan Muslim.

Alanda's writing has received contradictory reactions from public, some alleged that her mother has been victimized by others who were far more responsible for the controversial Bank Century Bail out case, others said that she was really responsible. Many others said that the letter and its effect are just part of a scenario to distract public opinion from people who are supposed to be more responsible from this vase.

In this case I think it would be better if we just wait and see how the Court proceedings will end.

Photo :  Courtesy of alandakariza.com

7 Years for Gayus Tambunan

 

Gayus Tambunan was a mid-level officer at the Directorate General of Taxation, but government officials, members of House of Representatives, and law enforcement agencies have been treating him as if he was the only person responsible for all the Tax Crimes in Indonesia.

Every day the media reported about him starting from his arrest by the Anti Mafia Task Force in Singapore, his rich bank accounts, expensive house and cars, his 68 trips inside and outside Indonesia while in Police detention center, trial at the District Court of South Jakarta, and the Prosecutors' demand for sentence of 20 years imprisonment for Tax Corruption charges.

But today, the Court's panel of judges seems to have their own opinion about Gayus when they sentenced him much lower than the Prosecutors' demand i.e. 7 year imprisonment and fine of 300 million Rupiah.

After the trial, Gayus told reporters that he was very disappointed at the Anti Mafia Task Force because they have turned him into public enemy number one, tried to persuade him and his wife to confess that he has helped the Tax fraud of companies owned by Chairman of Golkar Party Aburizal Bakrie, and that he has met him in Bali when he was detained by the Police.

He also accused the US intelligence agency CIA of arranging fake Guyana passports for him, his wife and children for the out of detention trips to Singapore, Malaysia and Macau. 

Considering that the sentence is much lower than what they have demanded and what have been expected by the public, most likely the Prosecutors would file an appeal with the Jakarta High Court against the District Court verdict.

Sources :
-  Gayus Praises Judges, Lashes Out at Task Force (The Jakarta Globe)
-  Gayus verdict disappointing: Graft Watchdog (The Jakarta Post) 

Photo: Courtesy of The Jakarta Globe

Legalization of Alterina's Sex Status

Last Tuesday, the District Court of South Jakarta has cleared Alterina Hofan (33) of Criminal charges i.e. Identity Fraud and Falsifying Documents, therefore legalized his status as a man.

The Court decides that although Alterina has falsified his documents as charged by the Prosecutor, however considering that this was done merely for his interest and did not inflict loss on other people,  therefore the Court has not regard it as a Crime.                        

The case began on 1 October 2009 when Bernard Hadipuspito dan Grace Maria reported Alterina to the Jakarta Police for marrying their daughter Jane (23) in Las Vegas, U.S.A, on September 2009. Bernard, CEO of Binus University Jakarta, claimed that Alterina is a female therefore cannot marry their daughter. He alleged that Alterina has falsified his identity. As a result of this report Alterina was detained by the Police from 30 April until 31 May 2010.

The Court trials revealed that according to his birth certificate, Alterina was born as a baby girl in Jayapura, Papua on 1 November 1977. At the age of 7, male genitalia began to develop, followed by breasts.later on.
In 2006, Alterina went to a hospital in Canada to remove of the breasts.
And in 2009, the Public Registrar office in Jayapura legalized Alterina's status as a male. 

The Court made it's decision after its all-male-judges closely observed that Alterina has a small penis, but no vagina. 

In reaction to the above Court Verdict, the Prosecutor has stated its plan to file an appeal against it.

Sources :
-  Court Declares Alterina Male on Eyewitness Testimony (The Jakarta Globe)
-  Pengadilan Lepaskan Alter Dari Segala Tuntutan (Hukumonline)
-  Alterina Lelaki Sejati Dibebaskan PN Jaksel (Warta Kota)

Photo :  Courtesy of The Jakarta Globe.

Empowerment of the Blasphemy Law

Today, the Constitutional Court has rejected the request for judicial review on the Blasphemy Law No. 1 PNPS/1965 filed by several non government organizations including the Legal Aid Foundation, and several prominent citizens including the late former President Abdurrahman Wahid.

The request itself was aimed at five stipulations of the Law which are regarded as against the Constitution and Discriminative toward followers of minority religions, i.e Articles 1, Article 2 Par.1 and Par.2, Article 3 and Article 4.

The Court's judges headed by its chief Mahfud MD explained that the Law is not against the Constitution, it is not a threat to Religious Freedom,  it is not Discriminative and it has no potential to Criminalize followers of minority Religions.

For detailed media reports (in Bahasa Indonesia), please click here, here, here and here.

In my humble opinion, religion is a personal matter of every citizens, therefore State intervention should be limited. However, now that the Constitutional Court has made its decision to empower the Blasphemy Law, we must respect and obey the said Law. That way, we can focus our attention on other matters which are important for the country and people of Indonesia i.e. eradicating corruption and poverty.

Is Antasari Azhar Guilty ?

During trial of former Chief of Commission for Eradication of Corruption (KPK) Antasari Azhar at South Jakarta District Court, last Thursday, former Chief of Police Investigation Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji said that he didn't know about the investigation on the murder case.

Susno said that he was never appointed to investigate the case, because the Chief of National Police Bambang Danuri has appointed Susno's Deputy Insp.Gen. Hadiatmoko to the job and report directly to Gen. Bambang.

Susno's statement has made the Antasari Case became more weird every day, because Susno's appearance in Court, wearing Police uniform, was strongly protested by the Police top brass because he has not requested for prior approval from the Police Chief.

Antasari Azhar was arrested by the Police and prosecuted by the Attorney General Office (AGO) on charges of murdering Nasruddin, Director of a state owned company.

During the trial, some prime witnesses, and defendants, have canceled/withdrew statements that they have given earlier to the Police.

Police Colonel Wiliardi Wizard, who was accused of coordinating the murder execution including two motor bikers who shoot Nasrudin in his car after leaving a golf course in Tangerang, Banten, canceled his earlier statement and even apologized to Antazari at the trial.
The alleged executors, who were untrained ordinary men, did the same cacellation.
The Forensic expert, Abdul Mu'nim, stated that he received Nasrudin's body already manipulated i.e. hair already cut and wound in forehead already stitched, therefore he cannot provide a reliable visum.

Moreover, two Deputy Chiefs of KPK, Bibit and Chandra, who were arrested by the Police on several unproven allegations have been released and re-installed to their offices at KPK.

For details, please click here and here.

Considering the above, some people are beginning to question whether or not Antasari Azhar is really guilty for the murder, or he is only a victim of the alleged conspiracy to weaken the KPK. In order to shed away such disturbing doubts, I hope that the Court proceedings of this case will reveal the real truth so that legal certainty and justice can prevail in Indonesia.

Judicial Tragedy

I found the above caricature on today's The Jakarta Post, showing Minah (55), a villager who was sentenced by a Court to one and half month imprisonment with a 3 months probation (she doesn't go to jail unless she committed crime in 3 months), for picking 3 Cocoa from a plantation company.

What happened to Minah is a tragedy if we compare with Anggodo who is still free although there is a publicly known recording that indicate his involvement in a bribery case against KPK Vice Chairmen Bibit and Chandra.

Tommy wins again!

The youngest son of the late former President Soeharto, Hutomo Mandala Putra a.k.a Tommy, has once again beaten the Indonesian government’s efforts to recover money that the state lost from the national car project during the last years of Soeharto’s reign.

According to Kompas, last Wednesday the District Court of Central Jakarta has rejected a lawsuit filed by the government against Tommy on charges of selling the assets of his “Timor “national car project to his own company. The judges said that the Prosecutors have failed to provide sufficient evidence to back out said lawsuit.
The Jakarta Post reported that the case started in 1999 when the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (a.k.a BPPN) took over the assets of Tommy’s national car company, PT. Timor Putra Nasional, as collateral for outstanding debt of Rp 4 trillion to the state. Later on, IBRA sold the said assets to Tommy’s other company PT. Vista Bella for only Rp. 445 billion, thus giving Tommy a Rp. 4 trillion gain from the sale.

This court’s verdict shows once again that our Attorney General Office seems to be weak in prosecuting Tommy. The irony is that Tommy has escaped prison for one year without being punished. Instead of getting more prison term, he got reduction.

Say it with Shoes

“Say it with Flowers!” that’s an old adage which implies that Males should express their feelings of Love to Females they loved by giving her Flowers.

Apparently, said adage has now been changed to express Hatreds, in some parts of the world, including Indonesia. In which cases, the Flowers are changed with Shoes. Here are the excerpts of news reports on four incidents:

The Telegraph reported that on 3 February 2009, a protester threw a shoe at Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao during his visit to London.
CNN reported that on 14 December 2008, an Iraki journalist threw a Shoe at the US President George W. Bush while he was giving a press conference in Bagdad.
Tempo reported two separate incidents of Shoe Throwing at the District Court of Central Jakarta, as follows :
On 8 May 1998, during the trial of Political Case against Dr. Sri Bintang Pamungkas, a spectator threw a shoe at the Council of Judges, for giving heavy sentence.
On 18 August 1987, during the trial of Fraud Case, Mimi, the victim, threw her Shoe at the Council of Judges for punnishing the Defendant lower than she expected.

As a conclusion I felt that people tend to express their hatreds towards other people by throwing their possession i.e. Shoes, which perhaps symbolize extended Kicking of the feet.

Pic:Xinhua