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Court to soon announce graft-tainted judicial review result
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Suspected: Constitutional Court justice and bribery suspect Patrialis Akbar enters a car after being questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) on Jan. 27. Patrialis' friend Kamaludin, as well as businesspeople Basuki Hariman and Ng Fenny also have been detained in relation to the case. (The Jakarta Post/Dhoni Setiawan)
T
he Constitutional Court (MK) will announce on Feb. 7 its ruling of a judicial review request on Law No. 41/2014 on animal husbandry and animal health, which has recently drawn public concern following the arrest of one of the court’s judges assigned to handling the review, an official has said.
Court chief justice Arief Hidayat said the announcement had been scheduled long before Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigators arrested judge Patrialis Akbar for allegedly accepting bribes from a businessman in relation to the judicial review.
“We have drafted a verdict and will announce it on Feb. 7. With or without the [graft] case, the court’s clerk has scheduled the announcement for that date,” Arief told a press briefing at his office on Friday.
He further said the court’s ruling on the judicial review was final and binding, hence, the court would not be reexamining its review despite controversies surrounding Patrialis’ arrest.
(Read also: KPK names MK justice Patrialis Akbar suspect in bribery case)
Patrialis was apprehended during a raid at Grand Indonesia mall in Central Jakarta on Wednesday evening, in which he allegedly accepted USS$200,000 from Basuki Hariman, a major player in the beef import business, who also was named a suspect in the case. It was suspected the bribes were given as an attempt to influence the decision-making process of the review.
Then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono appointed Patrialis as a Constitutional Court justice in 2013 despite public outcry over a lack of transparency in the selection process and his background as a former lawmaker. (ebf)
