Heru Andriyanto – Indonesia Corruption Watch on Sunday questioned the credibility of judges recently assigned to the Anti-Corruption Court, saying that most of them have already acquitted dozens of graft defendants.
The Supreme Court last month replaced nine antigraft court judges, but ICW warned that six of the incoming judges had acquitted at least 49 defendants in graft cases when they worked in various district courts.
"If they are officially installed, we are worried that the six judges will continue to acquit graft defendants in the Anti-Corruption Court," said Emerson Yuntho, the ICW's coordinator for legal affairs.
In a decree dated March 18, Supreme Court Chief Justice Harifin Tumpa appointed nine new antigraft judges: Tjokorda Rai Suamba, Reno Listowo, Jiwo Santoso, Herdi Agusten, Syarifuddin Umar, Jupriyadi, Subachran, Nani Indrawati and Panusunan Harahap.
"The Supreme Court said the new judges had passed training for the Anti-Corruption Court and that they were the best among other judges who took part in the selection process," ICW researcher Febri Diansyah said.
However, information provided by Febri showed that six of the nine newly appointed judges released 49 graft defendants between August 2005 and March 2009.
According to the data, Syarifuddin acquitted more defendants than five of the other judges. Over the past 15 months, he acquitted 36 defendants facing graft charges at the Makassar District Court in South Sulawesi Province.
The defendants released by a panel of judges, of which Syarifuddin was a member, included 28 former councilors in Luwu district, Febri said.
ICW also criticized the process of appointing antigraft judges as lacking transparency, thus violating the 2002 laws on the establishment of the Corruption Eradication Commission, or KPK, and the Anti-Corruption Court.
"The selection process was held in a closed-door meeting and the number of candidates was limited to just 13. Their names were proposed by the chairman of the Central Jakarta District Court," the group said in a statement.
"The ICW could not find any official publication from the chief justice regarding the selection, in either the print or electronic media, as required by law," it said.
Supreme Court spokesman Djoko Sarwoko did not respond to a call requesting his comments on ICW's remarks.