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National scene: Rights champion Benjamin passes away
Benjamin Mangkoedilaga - JP/Arief SuhardimanFormer Supreme Court justice and human rights defender Benjamin Mangkoedilaga passed away on Thursday after being treated at a Jakarta hospital
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Benjamin Mangkoedilaga - JP/Arief Suhardiman
Former Supreme Court justice and human rights defender Benjamin Mangkoedilaga passed away on Thursday after being treated at a Jakarta hospital. He was 77.
'Benjamin passed away at 4:30 p.m. Please pray for him,' said a relative, Taufik Gumulya Mangkoedilaga, as quoted by kompas.com.
Benjamin's remains will be taken to his house in Ragunan, South Jakarta, prior to his funeral.
Born in Garut, West Java, in 1937, Benjamin started his career as a judge in Rangkasbitung, West Java, after graduating in law from the University of Indonesia in 1967.
He served as a judge in several district courts in the country including Jakarta, Denpasar, Bali, and Bandung, West Java, before he was transferred to the Jakarta Administrative Court in 1992.
In 1995, he made headlines when he ruled against the information minister responsible for banning Tempo magazine.
In 2001, he led a team of justices that prepared for an ad hoc human rights tribunal to probe mass killings in then East Timor.
Based on Law No. 26/2000 on human rights tribunals, the Supreme Court is mandated with appointing ad hoc judges to try the cases of mass killings that followed the self-determination referendum in East Timor in August 1999 and the Tanjung Priok incident in 1984.
He was also co-chairman of the Indonesia-Timor Leste Truth and Friendship Commission (CTF) that examined violence in East Timor, now known as Timor Leste.
Benjamin also served as a member of the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
