Ulma Haryanto, Agus Triyono & Made Arya Kencana – Less than a month after a judge was allegedly caught red-handed receiving a bribe, antigraft investigators say they have caught another judge in a similar situation.
Imas Dianasari, an ad hoc judge at the Bandung Municipal Court's industrial relations tribunal, was arrested late on Thursday, and was declared a graft suspect the next day, said Priharsa Nugraha, a spokesman for the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
Also arrested and declared a suspect in the same case was Odi Juanda, a human resources manager with Japanese-owned electrical wire manufacturer Onamba Indonesia.
"[Both] are named as suspects for receiving and giving something related to a ruling and the handling of a case at the Supreme Court," Priharsa said.
M. Jasin, the antigraft body's deputy chairman, said KPK investigators arrested Imas at a restaurant. He alleged that she had Rp 200 million ($23,400) on her.
"[Odi] was inside a restaurant. A while later, [Imas] showed up. [Odi] approached her with a plastic bag and gave it to [Imas], and afterwards [Odi] came back inside the restaurant. That was when our investigation team stepped in and arrested both people," Jasin said.
He said the team had monitored the suspects the previous day. The case concerned an industrial dispute between the company, located in Karawang, West Java, and a union representing staff, after more than 200 of its workers held a strike at the factory in October.
Irman Nur, a coordinator of the labor union at the factory, said the protest – to demand better health benefits, life insurance and transportation facilities – had lasted for three weeks.
"We had a meeting mediated by the [West Java] manpower office and they advised the company to negotiate with us over the demands. But the company was dissatisfied with this and instead filed a lawsuit against us at the industrial relations tribunal for holding an illegal strike," Irman said.
In April, the court ruled in favor of the company and allowed them to discontinue the employment of those who joined the strike. The union filed an appeal to the Supreme Court in the same month.
Priharsa alleged the money exchange was intended to ensure that the Supreme Court rejected the union's appeal.
Both Imas and Odi could face charges of bribe taking that carry up to 15 years in jail and up to Rp 750 million in fines.
Speaking in Denpasar, Supreme Court Chief Justice Harifin Tumpa said Imas would be immediately suspended. "We have suspended the concerned person," Harifin told reporters, adding that "her status will be decided later, after there is a final and binding verdict."
Imas's arrest came a month after the arrest of Jakarta commercial court judge Syarifuddin Umar at his home shortly after he allegedly receiving at least Rp 250 million from the curator of a company whose bankruptcy he handled.
In March 2010, KPK investigators said they had caught Jakarta administrative court judge Ibrahim shortly after accepting a Rp 300 million bribe from the lawyer of a businessman in whose favor he had ruled in a land dispute.