P

ublic disgust for rampant and uncontrollable corruption among law enforcers has apparently led people to take the law into their own hands.

A prosecutor who was convicted of receiving bribes, Sistoyo, was assaulted on Wednesday after standing trial at the Bandung Corruption Court in West Java. Sistoyo, who previously served at the Cibinong District Prosecutor’s Office, sustained a cut to his forehead in the attack.

The assault was allegedly committed by Deddy Sugarda, who claimed to be a member of an organization called the State Apparatus Observer Community, at around 10 a.m. local time as Sistoyo exited the courtroom. Deddy slashed Sistoyo’s forehead with a machete wrapped in paper when the latter was answering questions from reporters.

An officer from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) who was escorting Sistoyo immediately pointed a pistol at Deddy, who then dropped the 20-centimeter-long machete, which was still wrapped
in paper.

“He betrayed the country. We have been betrayed by him. He should have prosecuted people, but instead was taken to court. He betrayed the country,” said Deddy, who explained to reporters his reasons behind the attack as he was escorted to a police car.

Sistoyo received eight stitches and must undergo further treatment at Halmahera Hospital, located around a kilometer from the courthouse in Bandung.

Before attacking Sistoyo, Deddy waited outside the courtroom and distributed anticorruption fliers to reporters. All the fliers were signed by Deddy on behalf of the Anak Bangsa organization.

Sistoyo’s lawyer, Firman Wijaya, raised strong objections with the head of the court. Firman questioned the weaknesses in the security system, which he regarded as so lax that his client was assaulted.

“This is a corruption court. For me, this is contempt for the judicial process. We mutually agreed the trial process must proceed and be respected, but today’s incident has tarnished our judiciary,” he said.

According to Firman, the incident has actually tarnished the ongoing judicial process at the Bandung
Corruption Court.

“I will face the head of the court to file a strong protest. The KPK leadership should be held responsible — security is a crucial matter. We will go to the Judicial Commission, the National Commission on Human Rights and the National Police headquarters to protest the incident until everything is disclosed,” said Firman.

However, KPK spokesman Johan Budi denied Firman’s accusations of poor security on the part of the antigraft body.

“The defendant was under our escort, which was in line with our existing security procedures,” he told reporters.

The KPK was not anticipating a visitor intending to attack Sistoyo as no one was allowed to bring weapons to a trial, he added.

“We are extremely concerned about the tragedy, and will investigate it further. We have taken it into consideration as we work to improve our rigorous detainee escort procedures,” he said in Jakarta.

Johan dismissed speculation that the attack was launched because Sistoyo tried to reveal the names of others involved in the case. “We never heard any threats against Sistoyo before,” he said.

He added that the police were currently investigating the case.

Sistoyo is standing trial for allegedly accepting bribes amounting to Rp 100 million (US$11,100) from defendant Edward M. Bunjamin at the Cibinong Prosecutor’s Office in November, 2011.

Bandung City Police spokesperson Comr. Endang Sri Wahyu Utami said Deddy had been following various graft cases being tried at the court. “He said he was hurt because the defendant was regarded as a traitor and corruption hurts the people. He committed the attack on his own initiative,” said Endang.

Endang added that Deddy committed the act as a form of shock therapy to others committing corruption. Earlier, Endang said, Deddy intended to attack Cyrus Sinaga, the public prosecutor in the tax mafia case involving Gayus Tambunan. Cyrus was accused of dropping Gayus’ indictment.

Separately, Bandung District Court head Joko Siswanto said security for Sistoyo was actually in accordance with standards. Despite that, he said he would tighten security for other defendants standing trial at the court. He added that increased security measures would be carried out jointly with the Bandung Prosecutor’s Office, West Java Prosecutor’s Office, Bandung City Police and the KPK.

“We will increase our diligence. The incident was the first [of its type], and I don’t blame the security. We don’t wish such an incident to happen again,” said Joko.