T

wo Indonesian top judicial authorities decided to dismiss a top local religious court judge in Padang Panjang in West Sumatra on Tuesday for what they deemed as her “immoral act” of cheating with another man while married.

Elvia Darwati, 49, a former Padang Panjang Religious Court chief, was dismissed with honor by the Judge Ethics Council, which consists of four Supreme Court justices and three Judicial Commission (KY) top officials, for breaching two provisions within the 2009 and the 2012 judge code of ethics on the integrity of judges.

This was the 46th ethical violation case managed by the council since its inception in 2009 – around 28 percent of the cases were related to judge decency, KY data revealed.

KY commissioner Farid Wajdi said the verdict provided an impetus for the Supreme Court to evaluate the mechanism of court chief appointments in the future.

“This is another blow for the country’s judiciary system, for her [Elvia’s] last position while in office was a religious court chief,” Farid said in a statement.

Elvia, who admitted her wrongdoing when pleading her defense statement in the Tuesday hearing, fainted while the council was reading its verdict.

Elvia, who had served as a judge for 15 years, was found in a low-cost hotel room in Bukittinggi in West Sumatra, a Muslim-majority province, with a man she said was her high school friend during a raid in October by the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP), the police and the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Following the raid, the mother of four paid a Rp 2 million (US$150) fine for violating a Bukittinggi regional regulation on social problems and was temporarily suspended by the Supreme Court.

The Padang High District Court in West Sumatra also launched an examination after the raid to determine if Elvia breached any ethical violations. The court found that she had committed a “serious ethical violation” and recommended to the Supreme Court that it dismiss her without honor.

But the ethical council decided to rule out against the Padang court’s finding, taking into account that Elvia had a good track record while in office — she had committed zero ethical violations before the Tuesday verdict — and still has to pay child support.

KY head of supervision Jaja Ahmad Jayus, who was one of the council members overseeing the case, said that the Tuesday ruling was final and legally binding for Elvia, who would be formally dismissed pending a dismissal letter issued by the Supreme Court.

Jaja added that with Elvia having been dismissed with honor, she will still receive her pension fund.

Tuesday also saw a hearing on an alleged ethical violation by Jambi High District Court judge Pangeran Napitupulu called off by the council due to him being sick. The hearing was rescheduled for Jan. 4 next year, Farid said.

While serving as a Jakarta Corruption Court judge in 2013, Pangeran made headlines when he acquitted former Merpati Nusantara Airlines president director Hotasi Nababan in a corruption case related to the lease of two Boeing aircraft. The ruling was annulled by the Supreme Court a year later.