Agus Triyono & Arientha Primanita – The arrest of Syarifuddin Umar, a judge caught allegedly accepting bribes in a bankruptcy case, has prompted calls for a review of the cases he had handled, especially where the defendants were acquitted.
A group calling itself the Bengkulu Legal Aid Office (KBHB) on Friday claimed the judge might have taken Rp 5 billion ($585,000) when he presided over the graft trial of Bengkulu Governor Agusrin Najamuddin, who is also a senior politician with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party.
The governor was accused of embezzling Rp 22 billion from Bengkulu province's land and building tax revenues. The court acquitted him of the charges last month.
"The Rp 5 billion bribery rumor has been circulating around Bengkulu for a long time," said Hendra Hasanuddin, the head of KBHB's investigation unit. "It's the job of KPK to investigate," he said, referring to the Corruption Eradication Commission.
There was a strong indication of foul play in the Agusrin trial as the judge was visibly biased during the hearings, he said.
"He put the pressure on nearly all witnesses who testified against Agusrin," Hendra said. "It seemed as though he was trying to keep Agusrin from receiving a guilty verdict."
Indonesia Corruption Watch also urged the antigraft commission to extend its probe to the other cases that were handled by Syarifuddin – including the trial of Agusrin.
The KPK is investigating Syarifuddin for accepting a bribe from a curator in the bankruptcy ruling against private firm Skycamping Indonesia. Syarifuddin was arrested at his home on Thursday after the KPK claimed to have caught him taking Rp 250 million in cash related to the case. The curator, Puguh Wiryawan, was also arrested and declared a suspect in the case.
Emerson Yuntho, a senior ICW member, estimated that in the past few years, the judge had acquitted at least 39 graft defendants while serving in the Makassar and Central Jakarta courts.
The judge was once reported to the court watchdog, the Judicial Commission (KY), for his handling of a graft trial involving dozens of district councilors from Luwu, South Sulawesi.
Syarifuddin was nominated as a judge for the antigraft court in 2009, but his appointment was canceled because "the Supreme Court received mounting criticism [about Syarifuddin]," Emerson said.
Marthen Pongrekun, an attorney for Syarifuddin, said there was nothing suspicious with the Agusrin's acquittal and slammed the bribery allegations as slanderous.
"It is clear that in the trial, which was recorded by the KPK and KY, no single testimony implied that Agusrin was guilty," Marthen said.
"Even Chaerudin [the former head of the regional revenue office] admitted that he initiated the crime and took sole responsibility."
Syarifuddin is the third judge to be arrested in the last 15 months. In March last year, the antigraft commission arrested Ibrahim for taking bribe from a lawyer. Two months later, the National Police detained Muhtadi Asnun for taking a bribe from notorious graft convict Gayus Tambunan. Both judges were convicted of corruption.