Heru Andriyanto – The recent arrest of a judge for bribe-taking shows Indonesia should start putting in place firm antigraft measures across the country's courts, especially as the practice could be more common than most think.
A leading antigraft organization pointed out on Sunday that established patterns of courtroom corruption, which follows set methods of bribery, exist all over the country. It involves not only judges, it said, but prosecutors and defense lawyers as well.
"It is quite easy to detect how this mafia works. For instance, [fixing of the case] is probably what happened when court verdicts are handed down very shortly after prosecutors have made a sentencing demand. Or the opposite, when it takes weeks between the sentencing demand and the reading of the verdict," said Hifdzil Alim from Gadjah Mada University's Antigraft Study Center, or Pukat UGM.
Hifdzil was referring to vigorous negotiating by lawyers in the second scenario, aimed at bringing down the number of years spent behind bars.
"It depends on the rate. How much are you willing to pay for an acquittal, or for [lighter] sentencing? It's no secret that defendants know beforehand how many years they will get," he said.
Defense lawyers, Hifdzil said, will negotiate initially with the prosecution to secure a lenient sentencing demand before approaching the judges to discuss the price for either a lenient ruling or an acquittal.
"The only difference is the amount involved. At district courts in remote areas, it may range from a couple to tens of millions of rupiah. However, in big cities like Jakarta, you can expect prices from hundreds of millions to billions of rupiah, like in the case of Syarifuddin," Hifdzil said.
The researcher referred to the Central Jakarta District Court judge who was recently arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for alleged bribery. Bundles of money in various currencies and at least Rp 250 million ($29,000) were seized.
A Supreme Court spokesman said on Sunday that Syarifuddin would soon be suspended. "The letter will be issued on Monday," he said. Whether such a sanction will make a difference is anybody's guess, though.
Pukat UGM has been monitoring trials across several provinces for years through a number of interviews with defendants.
"Many of them have come to us after losing a case and they tell us they made payments [to secure favorable outcomes] sometimes without the desired effect," Hifdzil said, adding that the group also questioned prosecutors and police officers.
"The bribe is far bigger in civil cases than in criminal cases on average because civil cases often involve wealthy corporate clients whose assets and businesses are put at risk, should they lose in court," Hifdzil said.
"So you can imagine what it's like to have a civil case tried in Jakarta by the Supreme Court. If we are to clean our courts, we must start there."
Among the defendants acquitted of corruption charges by Syarifuddin is Bengkulu Governor Agusrin Najamuddin.
According to Hendra Hasanuddin from the Bengkulu Legal Aid Office, another way to find out whether money has changed hands in the courts is just keeping one's ears open for boasts.
Hendra said that a month before the verdict was delivered, Agusrin's younger brother repeatedly boasted that he knew for sure the governor would be acquitted of all charges.
Non-governmental group Indonesia Corruption Watch has presented several facts that indicated case-fixing in the trial of Agusrin, who is from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's Democratic Party.
A former Bengkulu government official, Chaerudin, had been convicted earlier of embezzling land and building tax revenues in a case linked to Agusrin, but the verdict was not taken into consideration by Syarifuddin, the group said in a statement.
"Witnesses who testified against Agusrin were often pressured and cornered by the judge during the court hearing... evidence examination by the prosecution was often interrupted by the angry and loud words from the judge," ICW said.
Syarifuddin is the third judge to face corruption charges in 15 months' time. Last year, the chief of the Tangerang court, Muhtadi Asnin, was arrested for taking a bribe from disgraced taxman Gayus Tambunan, whom he acquitted from charges concerning his large assets. Muhtadi was sentenced to two years in jail.
The KPK arrested State Administrative Court judge Ibrahim last March after he took Rp 300 billion in bribes from a lawyer. He was sentenced to six years in jail.