Anti-graft watchdog reported that 21 judges have been implicated in corruption cases in Indonesia to date
Graft-accused Supreme Court Judge Sudrajad Dimyati is seen wearing an orange vest after being detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission. (Photo: The Corruption Eradication Commission)
A Catholic activist in Indonesia has joined advocacy groups to demand a state purge against corruption in the judiciary after a Supreme Court judge was arrested last week on allegations of bribery.
The state-run Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Supreme Court Judge Sudrajad Dimyati on Sept. 23, accusing him of accepting bribes in a civil case following a series of raids in Jakarta and Semarang of Central Java province.
Nine other people, including a clerk and prosecutors’ staff, as well as two businessmen and their two lawyers were also arrested.
Dimyati is accused of receiving 800 million rupiah (US$52,937) of the total 2.2 billion rupiah bribes in exchange for a cassation decision in favor of businessmen Ivan Dwi Kusuma Sujanto and Heryanto Tanaka, who are involved in a civil case against savings and loan cooperative, KSP Intidana.
The two entrepreneurs were previously members of the cooperative that filed for bankruptcy this year after the cooperative failed to fulfill its obligation to return the savings of its members which had reached almost one trillion rupiah.
They were declared victorious in cassation in the Supreme Court after losing to the Semarang Commercial Court.
Theodorus Yosep Parera, a Catholic lawyer who is among those arrested, has claimed to expose the practice of bribery that has often tainted the judicial process.
“This is a bad system in our country, where we must spend money [for bribes] in every aspect up to the top level,” he said.
The case has sparked national outrage over the long-running graft in the justice system, leading President Joko Widodo to declare that “reforming the judiciary sector is urgent.”
Azas Tigor Nainggolan, a Catholic lawyer involved with the legal and human rights desk at the Indonesian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, posted on Facebook that bribery “is a common practice in judicial proceedings”
“Police, prosecutors, judges, and advocates are one package in this practice,” he wrote.
Speaking with UCA News on Sept. 28, Nainggolan said this latest case “is only the tip of the iceberg.”
Nainggolan, who often provides legal assistance to marginalized people including victims of sexual abuse cases, said not just supreme court judges even judges in the lower court can be bribed.
He said he often faced judges and clerks who demanded money.
“In one case, after I filed a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court, I was called several times by someone from the court who sought money to make my case go smoothly. But I refused,” he said.
Nainggolan further claimed that even got another call a day before the verdict but he refused to pay a bribe and, fortunately, managed to win.
“From some of my experiences, it is clear that this kind of practice is already systemic. So, cleaning it up will require a total reform,” he said.
A lawyer in Labuan Bajo, West Manggarai district, East Nusa Tenggara province who often handles land disputes at the local district court told UCA News that giving money to prosecutors or judges “has become an open secret.”
“If you want reform, the government must ensure that there is a total clean-up at various levels and for all officers, including the police, prosecutors, and judges. Otherwise, I doubt whether this practice will ever end,” he said while speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Indonesia Corruption Watch said in a statement that the Supreme Court needs to “immediately conduct a thorough evaluation to ensure integrity, especially for judges in both the Supreme Court and judicial institutions below it.”
Citing KPK the group reported that 21 judges have been implicated in corruption cases to date in Indonesia. Last year, former Supreme Court secretary Nurhadi and his son-in-law Rezky Herbiyono were sentenced to six years in jail and 500 million rupiah ($ 34,662) for accepting bribes in three court cases between 2011 and 2016.
Muhammad Mahfud MD, a coordinating minister for political, legal, and security affairs said on Sept. 27 that President Widodo had ordered him to “find a reform formula in the field of judicial law, in accordance with available constitutional and legal instruments.”
Indonesia was ranked 96th out of a total of 180 countries in the global Corruption Perceptions Index 2021 by Transparency International.
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