By refusing yesterday to uphold two earlier decisions in favour of Tempo magazine, without introducing any new arguments, the highest judicial institution in the land must have lost its last chance to recover some prestige. After the news weekly was banned by the Information Minister in June 1994, former editor Goenawan Mohamad won decisions in May 1995 and again in November 1995 that the banning had been illegal. Yesterday the High Court (Mahkamah Agung) decided not the Information Minister but Goenawan Mohamad had got it wrong.
The credibility of the High Court has been undermined by a series of scandals in recent months. Some suggest it is susceptible to political pressure, others suggest commercialisation of the office. High Court Judge Adi Andojo Soetjipto acknowledged in mid-April that he had written an internal memo the previous December complaining of collusion between High Court judges and plaintiffs over a Jakarta land case worth Rp 1.4 billion (AU$ 700 000). Though denying responsibility for leaking the document, he spoke to it vigorously, naming the High Court officials who had bypassed him and channeled the case to a certain judge (Samsoedin Abubakar). The case in question had been speeded up before Samsoedin was to retire.
He said there were stories in the High Court that some judges asked for between Rp 1-4 billion (AU$ 0.5 - 2 million) to decide a case a certain way. Adi Andojo Soetjipto pushed for an investigation of the so-called Gandhi Memorial School case, but wanted it carried out by the Vice President, fearing a snow job if it was kept internal. His fears were realized a couple of days ago, when the internal investigatory committee under High Court Sec-Gen Toton Suprapto declared it had found no evidence of collusion in this case. The committee had been under constant pressure from the press and independent legal specialists to move forward, but had shown little enthusiasm for its job. It did not show up for a hearing with parliament. It even refused to ask Adi Andojo Soetjipto for his evidence, until Adi threatened to expose all to the press in mid May.
Adi Andojo Soetjipto is well known for having exposed a 'false decision' irregularly handed down by the High Court, for freeing all the suspects in the Marsinah murder case (who, it was widely suspected, had been framed by the military), and for freeing labour leader Mochtar Pakpahan. He was earlier passed over for the position of High Court Chief Judge, and is to retire next year. Apparently in retaliation for his disloyalty over the Gandhi Memorial School affair, his powers have been curtailed. He has also received anonymous death threats over the telephone.
As this was going on, an almost identical case was exposed in Surabaya early June, in which a land case worth between Rp20-30 billion (AU$10-15 million) was decided in an extraordinarily short time. Before it could get out of hand, Toton Suprapto made a categorical statement to the press 3 days later that there had been no collusion.
Still in early June, the legal aid institute LBH revealed that a High Court decision, by 'good' judge Bismar Siregar (since retired) in late July 1994 favouring farmers in a land case, had never been acted on. The farmers in Cimerak had been awarded over Rp 1 million (AU$500) in compensation each but had received nothing.
Inspired by Adi Andojo's example, other respected lawyers have also been stung into speaking out about the condition of the legal system. Prof Sunaryati Hartono, Head of the National Legal Development Authority (Badan Pembinaan Hukum Nasional, BPHN) said: 'As Head of BPHN I don't accuse anyone when I say our law is seriously ill, but I am anxious that we should want to cure that illness. I have been a lawyer for 41 years. I left the law courts because I could no longer stand to see the sickness. I can understand it if Adi Andojo also can stand it no longer. That's the reality. We have to improve it'.
Retiring High Court Judge Prof Asikin Kusumaatmadja said a couple of years ago 50% of judges were corrupt. Independent Surabaya lawyer Trimoelja D Soerjadi, chairman of the Indonesian Barristers Association (Asosiasi Advokat Indonesia, AAI), says the real figure is in excess of 90%. 'The situation is much worse than people think', he said. He particularly accused the current High Court Chief Judge, Soerjono, of being 'very weak over against external pressure'. Soerjono has brought down an avalanche of 'inviolable memos' (surat sakti), which undo the entire legal process up till that moment. These memos, for example instructing lower courts not to implement a decision, have no force of law. But in the patron-client atmosphere of the civil service they are just as effective. Many of these memos undo decisions awarded to claimants against the State in land cases. The memos, said Trimoelja, 'wreck the entire legal system'.
Gerry van Klinken, editor, 'Inside
Indonesia' magazine.
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