Mahfud violated ethics, not me, says Arsyad

Former Constitutional Court judge Arsyad Sanusi says he did not violate the ethics code while he was a judge, but suggests court chief Mahfud MD may have.

During a hearing at the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Arsyad said Mahfud may have breached court ethics by meeting with someone whose case was being processed.

Arsyad was being questioned by legislators over an alleged document forgery that was said to have been behind a dispute between two candidates who both claimed to be eligible for a chair to represent the South Sulawesi I electoral district in the 2009 election.

“[Regarding] the visit of Hasan, even if Dewi Yasin Limpo was there, there was no longer a case [involving her]. The request had already been granted … all the demands had been granted by the Constitutional Court,” Arsyad said of a meeting between him and one of the disputing parties, Dewi Yasin Limpo, in August 2009.

He added that it was “normal for a ‘family’” to come to his house, referring to Dewi, who he said had an “emotional relationship” with him.
Later in the session, Arsyad said Mahfud may have breached the ethics code by meeting Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Bibit Samad Riyanto and lawyer Bambang Widjojanto at Mahfud's residence in October 2009.

Arsyad also presented what he said was evidence of the meeting, in the form of a guest log written by Mahfud's then sidekick and House security guard.
“This case [shows] true evidence of a breach of ethics by Mahfud,” he said.

According to Arsyad, Bibit and Bambang Widjojanto’s presence at the residence of the head of the Constitutional Court was in breach of court ethics.
“[Bambang and Bibit] visited on the 20th. The request for their case in the court was filed on the 13th. The case became a real case when it entered the case register book,” he said.

The case was registered on the 15th, thus Bibit and Chandra were already part of an ongoing case, requesting a review of an article in the 2002 Law on the KPK.