The Constitutional Court approved Thursday a proposal from the two disgraced Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputies, ordering President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono not to issue a presidential decree on their dismissal before a court verdict.
“A panel of judges can only delay the implementation of article 32 (1) c [of the 2002 KPK law] on the dismissal of KPK deputies if they are defendants in a criminal case,” judge Akil Mochtar read.
The deputies, Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M Hamzah, who have been suspended from their positions because of their status as suspects in abuse of power and bribery allegations put forward by the police, filed a judicial review to the Constitutional Court over an article stipulating that KPK chairmen or deputies must be discharged from their position if they were defendants in a criminal case.
Both of them considered the article had violated their constitutional rights and violated the principles of presumption of innocence and equality before the law as promoted by the Constitution.
After the preliminary verdict, Chandra said he was relieved saying the Constitutional Court apparently is able to protect a citizen’s constitutional rights.
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