The ongoing showdown within the Attorney General's Office could raise further doubts about its commitment to law enforcement.
Jakarta Prosecutor's Office chief Rusdi Taher officially challenged Tuesday a decision by Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh to suspend him in connection with sentence irregularities in the case of suspects caught with drugs.
The dispute comes on the heels of an incident Monday at the House of Representatives, in which a student hurled a rotten egg at Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes Hendarman Supandji prior to a hearing.
Such disrespect is intolerable. But such acts may also be motivated by feelings of impatience, frustration or perhaps loss of confidence in the AGO, which is expected to uphold the law without compromise.
The tension brewing between Abdul Rahman and Rusdi has become the embodiment of every ailment besetting the AGO. The institution has long been associated with the country's corrupt judicial system, where justice has a price.
It is understandable if Abdul Rahman, as the boss, prevented Rusdi on Monday from clarifying his complaints about constantly being under "pressure from the top" not to come down hard in certain cases. But Abdul Rahman cannot hide behind institutional ethics to cover up practices that would keep him from realizing his post-inauguration pledge to build an independent law enforcement agency.
Many suspect Rusdi is just a fall guy fighting back but what he has revealed to the media needs to be verified. The senior prosecutor claimed that, just one-and-a-half years after taking office, he had repeatedly been pressured by his superiors or top government officials to help suspects get light sentences or have their cases dropped.
Rusdi was relieved from his professional duties after the AGO found him guilty of violating the code of conduct for prosecutors. The AGO's internal affairs office had discovered two drafts of a sentence demand for Hariono Agus Tjahjono, who was on trial for trafficking 20 kilograms of shabu-shabu or crystal methamphetamine. Rusdi denied having ordered the prosecutors in charge of the case to seek three years' jail, far from the maximum penalty of death.
Letting the cat out of the bag, Rusdi said top officials at the State Secretariat had put pressure on him to drop a corruption case in the deal to use state assets in Kemayoran for business interests involving businesswoman Hartati Murdaya. He also said the deputy attorney general for special crimes had asked him to seek one-and-a-half years' jail for Jakarta Elections Commission chief M. Taufik in a graft case.
Not long ago, two prosecutors faced a disciplinary hearing for allegedly extorting Ahmad Djunaidi, the former president director of state social security firm Jamsostek, in exchange for a light sentence. Police have named the prosecutors suspects and detained them, pending their trial.
The so-called court mafia – involving prosecutors, judges, court clerks and lawyers – has made its presence felt, but most of the time it is difficult to prove its existence. Only a few cases have been brought to justice.
If true, Rusdi's claims are another blow to efforts to restore the credibility of the AGO, which in the past served the interests of the regime.
Hopes were high when Abdul Rahman was appointed as attorney general two years ago that he would lead his 7,000-strong force to instigate change. As a former lawyer with a legal aid institute, many had absolute faith in Abdul Rahman's integrity and sense of justice.
It is hoped that Rusdi's suspension will kick start a formal probe into allegations that he arranged a lenient sentence demand for drug suspect Hariono, as well as into other practices by state prosecutors that have been brushed under the carpet.
Poor law enforcement not only takes away opportunities for justice to prevail, but undermines the country's recovery program as a whole. Inconsistent law enforcement has scared away investors, resulting in job losses. Too much is at stake if law enforcers fail to come clean.