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Akil slings more dirt at Mahfud
Former Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar has, again, accused his predecessor, Mahfud MD, of being corrupt during his time leading the court
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ormer Constitutional Court chief justice Akil Mochtar has, again, accused his predecessor, Mahfud MD, of being corrupt during his time leading the court.
Akil is currently on trial for acquiring Rp 57 billion (US$4.9 million) from the rigging of 10 election dispute cases; and the laundering of Rp 160 billion during his term at the court and Rp 20 billion when he was in the House of Representatives.
The former Golkar Party lawmaker questioned Mahfud's statement that he was aware of the bribery practices in the court.
'How can [Mahfud] know about it? That needs to be corrected. Perhaps he is the one who accepted the money; If he knew, why didn't he report it?' Akil told reporters after a trial session Thursday night. 'He better be honest; don't pass the blame [onto me].'
Mahfud has accused Akil of flying solo in relation to the rigging of numerous local-election dispute cases, saying that Akil might have made use of the time between the justices' final deliberation meeting and the final readout to rig the cases.
Mahfud is politically affiliated to the National Awakening Party (PKB) and is also a popular presidential hopeful. The party said recently that it would push for the nomination of either Mahfud or popular dangdut singer Rhoma Irama.
Akil and Mahfud have been pointing the finger at one another since Akil was caught red-handed accepting a bribe by the antigraft body in October last year.
Days after Akil's arrest, Mahfud went to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to give evidence to support his claim that he had not accepted bribes during his tenure as chief justice between 2008 and 2013.
Mahfud also revealed that his disgraced successor stashed billions of rupiah in the walls of a karaoke room at the official residence they both occupied during their tenures.
In its investigation, the KPK found that businessman and defendant Tubagus Chaeri 'Wawan' Wardana had greased Akil's palm to the sum of Rp 7.5 billion to rule in favor of Banten Governor and graft suspect Ratu Atut Chosiyah in a challenge to her victory in the Banten election.
In the first day of his trial in February, Akil denied that he had adjudicated the Banten gubernatorial election dispute, instead throwing Mahfud under the bus: 'Don't ask me, ask Mahfud.'
On Thursday, Adardam Akhyar, Akil's lawyer, urged Mahfud to cease the vitriol against his client, warning Mahfud of certain information his client had.
Akil's arrest tarnished the credibility of the Constitutional Court, one of the most respected and important institutions in the post-reformasi.
In the wake of the case, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issued a regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) to reform the court, containing a clause barring active politicians from being justices at the court. However, in February, the remaining eight justices annulled the Perppu, which had been approved by the House of Representatives.
