Bayu Marheanjati, Ezra Sihite & Farouk Arnaz – A week to the day after directly contradicting the law on general elections, the new chief of the Constitutional Court has said he plans to ban visitors from the court room – in breach of the law, which requires that hearings must be open to the public.
"Starting from next week, I want no more of such things," chief justice Hamdan Zoelva said in a statement. "I've coordinated with the National Police chief [to prevent those]."
The announcement came after a verdict reading on a disputed Maluku election turned into a riot on Thursday, derailing proceedings and sending a panel of justices fleeing.
Hamdan wants visitors to have to register before attending hearings at the Constitutional Court. Only plaintiffs, witnesses, defendants and their attorneys will be allowed in the court room.
"We are preparing an X-ray system at the court's entrance, and from now on, trial visitors will no longer be allowed in the court room," the statement said. "We want future trials in the Constitutional Court to be sterilized."
However, the 2003 law establishing the court prescribes that "Constitutional Court hearings are open to the public, except during judicial conferences," and that "Decisions must be announced in hearings open to the public" – and that any decisions reached without being open to the public are not legally binding.
Last Friday, chief justice Hamdan stunned legal experts by claiming voting by proxy was not only legitimate in the Bali gubernatorial election, but also in other areas such as Papua, a position completely at odds with clearly worded Indonesian electoral law.
Fifteen people, including a deputy governor candidate, were arrested following the courtroom melee after a mob tore through the Constitutional Court, smashing windows and hurling microphones in a show of violence observers called a sign of wavering respect for the graft-tainted court.
The Jakarta Police named two suspects on Friday, adding that additional charges may be filed as the investigation continued.
"Investigators are arresting all people who allegedly attacked the facilities, be they agent provocateurs, the instigators, people who destroyed stuff or those who tainted and insulted the trial," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said. "But only after further questioning can we decide whether any of those questioned will be named suspects."
The suspects, identified as "K.S." and "M.T.," were charged with destruction of property during a riot, which carries a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison if convicted. Police are scanning security camera footage for additional suspects.
On Thursday a panel of eight judges was reading out the verdict of a disputed election in Maluku. Four losing pairs, Abdullah Tuasikal-Hendrik Lewerissa, Jacobus-F. Puttilehalat, William B. Noya-Adam Latuconsina and Herman Adrian Koedoeboe-Daud Sangadji, were in attendance during the reading.
As the verdict was read, a crowd standing outside the courtroom began to riot, throwing chairs and smashing windows. The chaos eventually spilled into the court session as men rampaged around the room, throwing objects and yelling. The entire ordeal was caught on camera by news crews in attendance.
Some 30 officers with the National Police were on-guard outside the courthouse on Thursday, spokesman Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie said. Police quickly swept in and detained those involved.
Ronny denied allegations that police had failed to properly secure the area. Officers regularly wait outside the courthouse until they are requested by judges, he said.
"That is part of the procedures to secure court rooms; police officers should be outside not inside the rooms," Ronny said on Friday. "We only enter if justices request or order us to."
Marwan Jafar, chairman of the National Awakening Party (PKB) central executive board said the brawl had stemmed from waning public trust in the Constitutional Court following the arrest of its former chief justice Akil Mochtar last month for corruption.
"The Constitutional Court now has its dignity at stake," Marwan said on Friday. "The public's trust towards the court needs to be restored starting from scratch, including by reorganizing its internal [procedures]," he said.