TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Another judge arrested for bribery

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested a judge from the Bandung Industrial Relations Court for allegedly accepting bribes, but the Supreme Court played down the “minor” incident

Ina Parlina and Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta/Bandung
Sat, July 2, 2011

Share This Article

Change Size

Another judge arrested for bribery

T

he Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested a judge from the Bandung Industrial Relations Court for allegedly accepting bribes, but the Supreme Court played down the “minor” incident.

“The percentage of such incidents [arrests] is small compared to the 7,000 judges we have,” Supreme Court justice Hatta Ali told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The KPK on Thursday named judge Imas Dianasari and Odih Juanda, a manager at PT Onamba Indonesia, suspects in a graft case related to the company’s case at the appellate court.

Bandung Industrial Relations Court spokesman Sumantono said the court had no information on the arrest.

“Based on information from the Bandung District Court, Imas allegedly received Rp 200 million [US$23,400], but we do not know which case she was handling,” he said.

Imas is the fourth judge to be arrested for accepting bribes in recent cases.

Hatta said his office should not be blamed for failing to supervise the judges so such incidents did not occur, saying a system was in place to monitor judges.

Judicial Commission spokesman Asep Rahmat Fajar, however, said public trust in the nation’s justice system was deteriorating, adding that the Commission called on the Supreme Court to pay extra attention to judges and courts as the KPK had recently arrested another judge for accepting bribes at the Jakarta Bankruptcy Court.

“Both the Commission and the Supreme Court need to sit together to find a solution to prevent such incidents [from occurring] in the future,” Asep said.

“Matters of the integrity of the court are important. An overhaul in the way we recruit and monitor judges is needed.”

Hatta agreed, saying such incidents “provide good momentum to tighten the monitoring of judges”.

The Commission also said it would investigate if Imas violated the judicial code of ethics. “We will form a team to probe the possibility,” Asep said.

KPK deputy chairman Mochammad Jasin said the Rp 200 million bribe was paid to influence the appellate court to reject a lawsuit against the company filed by a trade union over the firm’s decision to fire striking workers.

However, he did not speculate whether other court officials may have been involved in the alleged graft scheme, saying that “it will depend on the results of our investigation”.

Judges arrested by THE KPK for bribery (2010-2011)

June 2011: Central Jakarta Commercial Court bankruptcy judge Syarifuddin was caught allegedly accepting Rp 250 million in bribes from Puguh Wirawan, the curator in the confiscation process of PT Skycamping Indonesia.

December 2010: Former Tangerang District Court judge Muhtadi Asnun — who acquitted graft suspect Gayus H. Tambunan — was sentenced to two years in prison for receiving US$40,000 in bribes from Gayus.

August 2010: Jakarta State Administrative High Court judge Ibrahim was sentenced to six years in prison and fined Rp 200 million for receiving Rp 300 million in bribes from a palm oil entrepreneur.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.