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nticorruption activists have criticized the Supreme Court'€™s choice of 15 new ad hoc judges for the Jakarta Corruption Court, saying the selectees lack integrity and the ability to properly try corruption cases.

According to a statement posted on the Supreme Court'€™s website, the 15 winners, who were among 58 candidates interviewed by the nation'€™s highest court on Friday, include M. Yulie Bartin Setyaningsih and Uding Sumardina of the Jakarta High Court, Hulman Siregar of the Palangkaraya High Court and Tigor Samosir of the Medan High Court.

The other new ad hoc judges are Soeharman of the Tanjung Karang High Court, Dedi Ruswadi and Ibu Kholik of the Bandung High Court, Gustap Paiyan Maringan Marpaung and Bernard Panjaitan of the Medan High Court, Edward and Darwin Panjaitan of the Pekanbaru High Court, Ali Muhtarom of the Semarang High Court, Mulyono Dwi Purwanto and Efendy Hutapea of the Jakarta High Court and Aminul Rahman of the Makassar High Court.

'€œThe selection result is final and not subject to change,'€ read a circular on the website signed by Supreme Court justice Artidjo Alkostar.

The Judicial Watch Coalition, which comprises several NGOs including the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI), Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) and the Indonesian Legal Roundtable (ILR), opposes the 15 selected ad hoc judges, arguing that none meet the coalition'€™s standards of integrity, competency and independence.

'€œWe have conducted background investigations into nine of the 15 and found that they lack the qualities required to serve as ad hoc judges. One of them also has questionable integrity, having applied for several government jobs while in office,'€ Aradi Caesar of ICW said, without revealing the name of the judge in question on ethical considerations.

The coalition'€™s investigation also found that one of the selected judges lacked a taxpayer identification card (NPWP), while others received black marks with regard to their handling of cases at their respective courts.

Antigraft activists had urged the Supreme Court to prioritize integrity in choosing ad hoc judges; a number of such judges have in the past been arrested by the KPK in relation to corruption cases .

An ad hoc judge is defined as a judge who has special knowledge on a specific field; a special court such as the Jakarta Corruption Court needs to employ ad hoc judges to collaborate with career judges to examine corruption cases that involve fields such as banking and energy.

A shortage of ad hoc judges has forced the Jakarta Corruption Court to reschedule and postpone a number of hearings.

Some recent hearings have even had to be heard by three judges, rather than the usual five, after ad hoc judges resigned from their posts.

Supreme Court spokesman Suhadi, who is also a Supreme Court justice, did not return calls from the Post on Sunday night to seek a response to the coalition'€™s allegations.