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Lawyer, AGO at odds over judge's arrest
A lawyer and the Attorney General's Office were up in arms Saturday over the arrest of Muhtadi Asnun, the presiding judge who controversially acquitted tax employee Gayus Tambunan, who had amassed Rp 28 billion (US$3
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lawyer and the Attorney General's Office were up in arms Saturday over the arrest of Muhtadi Asnun, the presiding judge who controversially acquitted tax employee Gayus Tambunan, who had amassed Rp 28 billion (US$3.08 million) worth of embezzlement and money laundering charges.
Asnun's lawyer Farhat Abbas accused the AGO of acting unfairly because it had not yet arrested the prosecutors who handled the Gayus case when all have been named suspects by the National Police.
AGO spokesman Didiek Darmanto, however, argued that Asnun's Friday night arrest was made in accordance with a 2004 law, which stipulates that a judge suspected of involvement in a criminal case can be arrested on the attorney general's order for the purpose of investigation.
Asnun was arrested by the police for the sake of the investigation for allegedly accepting Rp 50 million ($5,500) in bribes for Gayus's acquittal as he had admitted before the Judicial Commission disciplinary council. Asnun said he used the money for a minor haj.
Two other judges in the panel, Haran Tarigan and Bambang Widyatmoko denied that they ever received any bribe from Gayus.
Gayus was acquitted at the Tangerang District Court on March 12 for embezzling Rp 380 million in taxpayer's money. Farhat said that the attorney general sent a letter, also approved by the Supreme Court, to National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri to arrest Asnun on Friday. "Why should the attorney general interfere?" he said.
He claimed that Asnun could not be blamed for acquitting Gayus. Instead, he said, the blame should be on the prosecutors who had manipulated Gayus' indictment and failed to present key witnesses. Farhat demanded the attorney general also ask the police to arrest prosecutors.
The AGO has slapped administrative and disciplinary fines on prosecutors handling the Gayus case on April 26. They are Cirus Sinaga, Fadil Regan, Eka Kurnia and Ika Safitri.
Didiek denied Farhat's accusation that the attorney general had interfered in Asnun's arrest.
"According to the 2004 Public Court Law, judges can be arrested for investigations on the attorney general's request," he said.
He added that Asnun's arrest had also been endorsed by the Supreme Court.
A criminal law expert, Frans Hendra Winarta, said that the mechanism of Asnun's arrest was "unusual".
"Normally, the investigation team issue an arrest warrant and then ask for the approval from the Supreme Court and the AGO," he told The Jakarta Post.
Frans said that it was wrong for the attorney general to ask to arrest a suspect for the sake of the investigation.
"The position of the attorney general is too high to deal with the arrest," he said. (rdf)
