Robert Go, Jakarta – Flowers and congratulatory notes yesterday flooded the Jakarta house of Indonesian parliament Speaker Akbar Tandjung, whose corruption conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court on Thursday.
Numerous Indonesian officials said yesterday that the decision to exonerate the politician – made after careful deliberation by the most senior legal officials in the country – was final and must be respected.
The Supreme Court had ruled that Mr Akbar was only implementing his duty as a minister as ordered by then president B.J. Habibie. The lower courts had been wrong to convict him of misusing his power because the decision to disburse the funds in question had not been taken on his authority, the court added.
The money in question were funds worth US$4.5 million meant for the poor which were channelled to Golkar party cadres.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda was quoted as saying that the verdict would not trigger protests in foreign countries.
Dr Sidney Jones, Indonesia director for the International Crisis Group think-tank, was quoted as telling Reuters: "It's complicated because on the one hand, if they had reinforced the verdict of the lower court, it would have been seen as a great victory for independence of the judiciary and a major step forward. On the other hand, there were a lot of people who believed the whole case was politically built from the beginning."
Demonstrations and public statements by Indonesian student groups, anti-graft activists and religious leaders showed that the verdict did not go down well among a significant portion of Indonesian society.
In Yogyakarta, Indonesia's main university town, hundreds of students filled the streets on Thursday and yesterday protesting against the "death of Indonesia"s judiciary".
In Surabaya, the capital of East Java and the country's second largest city, students set fire to kerandas, or traditional chicken cages, to symbolise their anger towards what is being seen here as the failure of the justice system.
Indonesia's lively media also jumped into action. Rakyat Merdeka, a populist publication, featured prominently a photograph of Justice Abdul Rachman Saleh, a former journalist and the only one on the panel of five justices to issue a dissenting opinion, which confirmed Mr Akbar's graft conviction.
A commentary on Rakyat's front page yesterday said: "A child's question to his father: 'How much for justice in this country?'" Leading daily Koran Tempo called the court's ruling "a bitter decision". The paper's editorial added: "For many Indonesians, this is a frustrating judgment." The Jakarta Post, Indonesia's leading English-language newspaper, said in an editorial: "Plain common sense would dictate that Akbar, being the person entrusted with the disbursement of the money, should bear the responsibility for its proper allocation."
Among common folk, too, there was growing disillusionment with Indonesia's political elite and its use of the courts to whitewash past crimes. Cigarette seller Suryono said: "This is the lesson we have to learn – those who steal a chicken get beaten to death, but those who steal a lot of money get to grow fat."