The arrest of judge Sudiwardono, head of the Manado High Court, on Oct. 7, casts further doubt over the country’s judicial system, suggesting that the Supreme Court’s repeated claims it has implemented strict supervisory mechanisms may amount to nothing.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named Sudiwardono a suspect for allegedly accepting kickbacks from Golkar Party lawmaker Aditya Anugrah Moha, who was also arrested on Saturday.

It is believed that the bribe was intended to influence an appellate bench in handling a corruption case related to allowances for village officials (TPAPD) in Bolaang Mongondow regency, North Sulawesi.

Aditya’s mother, Marlina Moha Siahaan, a former regent of Bolaang Mongondow, is the defendant in the case.

The arrest came only a month after Bengkulu Corruption Court judge Dewi Suryana was caught allegedly accepting money from a graft suspect in a different case, prompted the Supreme Court to issue an edict to improve the internal supervision of its own judges.

This year, at least two bribery cases investigated by the KPK have also implicated two court clerks.

Supreme Court spokesman Abdullah said that the court had already instructed all judges to take part in the internal reform, which was first introduced in the early 2000s.

Following the Manado case, the court is determined to not only impose stricter monitoring and evaluations on all judicial staff under its jurisdiction, but also to emphasize among judges that corruption practices went against their religion, Abdullah said.

“We have to instill [an anticorruption mindset] in judges, but if we can’t, we must dismiss them,” he added.

Sudiwardono’s case also appeared to have frustrated the Judicial Commission (KY), an external judicial supervisory body, which has long been opposed by the Supreme Court.

“If the Supreme Court doesn’t follow up on the KY’s recommendations, and as long as the court shows no willingness to change, we guarantee that similar [corruption] cases will happen again,” said KY spokesman Farid Wajdi.

Saturday’s arrest also puts the spotlight back on Golkar, the country’s oldest and second largest political party, which has been struggling with declining electability after its chairman, Setya Novanto, was implicated in a high-profile graft case.

Aditya is the seventh Golkar politician to be named a corruption suspect this year alone.

The party’s deputy secretary-general, Ace Hasan Syadzily, said Golkar was still studying the effect of Aditya’s alleged involvement in the Bolaang Mongondow graft case, but on whether it would dismiss the lawmaker, members opted “to wait for the case to reach a final and binding ruling.”

In an attempt to explain his actions, Aditya claimed that he had wanted to save his mother from being jailed.

“I fought and did my best for the good name of my mother,” he told reporters at the KPK headquarters in Jakarta.

“Personally, I would like to apologize to the public, particularly those in my electoral district, for what I did,” he said.

KPK investigators also confiscated as evidence S$64,000 (US$ 46,848) in cash during Saturday’s operation.

According to KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah, the bribe allegedly comprised a S$100,000 commitment fee, of which S$20,000 was meant to free Aditya’s mother from detention and the remaining to influence the appeal verdict that would impose a minimum sentence on Marlin.

“The [KPK] team also found a letter issued by the court that protected the defendant from being detained. The court issued the letter right after [Aditya] gave the first commitment fee in August,” Febri said.

Popular

Government to permanently relocate 10,000 people after Ruang eruptions

Kokubo's injury time penalty save secures title for Japan

Residents fear for safety as Mount Ruang volcano erupts