Jakarta/Makassar – Antigraft and human rights groups have warned the Judicial Commission it is risking its legitimacy by nominating corruption suspect Achmad Ali as a justice candidate for the Supreme Court.
They also urged the commission to review and improve its selection mechanism. "We regret this. We fear that the commission will lose its legitimacy," Firmansyah Arifin of the National Commission for Law Reform told a joint conference here Friday.
The commission on Monday filed the names of six justice candidates, including Achmad Ali, with the House of Representatives. "We all agree that the commission should not have selected Achmad Ali, considering his status as a graft suspect," Emmerson Yuntho of Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW) said.
Prosecutors in South Sulawesi have accused Ali of being involved in the swindling Rp 250 million in tuition fees from students of the Hasanuddin University. Ali failed to attend a summons for questioning Friday by South Sulawesi prosecutors.
"We regret his failure to turn up for questioning today," prosecutor Abdul Taufieq said. Taufieq said the prosecutors would send another summons for Ali and threatened to put the law professor behind bars if necessary.
Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence coordinator Usman Hamid said the Judicial Commission should also consider a letter sent by the National Commission for Women to Ali, which protested his statement on rape cases in Aceh. "We not only need justices who are willing to fight corruption, but we also need those who defend human rights," he said.
Emmerson said the Judicial Commission should upgrade its standards in the selection process and be more proactive in investigating the track record of candidates.
During interview sessions on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, it was revealed that one of the nominated justices had admitted to using office facility for personal interests. The ICW in its investigation found out that another candidate had allegedly had an affair. "How can we believe in justices whose integrity is under question," Emmerson said.
The Judicial Commission allocated Rp 2.7 billion (US$255,555) for the selection, and spent around Rp 2.3 billion.
Chief Justice Bagir Manan said there was no haste to fill the vacant positions in the Supreme Court and that the money could be used to renovate or build new court buildings. Under the law, the Judicial Commission must recommend three names for each vacant position in the Supreme Court. This year, 120 people put themselves up for nomination for two positions, although only six could pass the selection process. The House of Representatives' law commission will chose two of them to be the new justices.
Judicial Commission chief Busyro Muqoddas said he was confident the House would not reject all six candidates, but some legislators have already signaled their dissatisfaction with the nominees.
Law commission member Achmad Fauzi said he would not interview Achmad Ali. "There is no need to interview him because he has been named a graft suspect," he said.
Should the House reject all the candidates nominated by the Judicial Commission, it will be the second blow to its existence and legitimacy after the Constitutional Court stripped its oversight powers in the judiciary.