Jakarta – A study by Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW) has found that around 70 percent of corruption defendants were freed by district courts in the first semester of 2009 whereas the Corruption Court, largely made up of appointed judges, sent those accused of graft directly to prison.
The finding has thrown President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's commitment to combat corruption into question, as it was his administration that insisted the future corruption court be made of up more career judges (those who have risen through the ranks) than non-career judges (who are directly appointed).
"Our research shows that 222 corruption defendants went on trial at district courts, high courts and the Supreme Court in the first semester of 2009," ICW coordinator on law and court monitoring, Illian Deta Artasari, said during a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday. "More than 150 of them were freed without charge," she said.
The research also showed that defendants who were found guilty by the district court only served an average six months in jail. "Only one suspect was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison," Illian said.
Of all the district courts, the data showed that the Makassar district court freed the most corruption defendants, releasing 38 suspects in the first semester of 2009.
The Supreme Court, which is currently facing heavy criticism for its interference in the general election disputes, comes in second, having freed 13 defendants. All of those trials were handled by career judges.
"The condition is completely different when compared to cases that were handled by the Corruption Court," Illian's fellow ICW coordinator, Febri Diansyah, said.
"In the Corruption Court, all 32 corruption defendants were sent to jail. On average, they will serve almost five years behind bars." The heaviest punishment fell on Urip Tri Gunawan, a district attorney who accepted bribes during his handling of the Bank Indonesia Direct Subsidy (BLBI) scandal. Urip was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The cases at the Corruption Court were handled by three ad hoc judges and two career judges.
The Corruption Court is under threat of dissolution as the government and the House of Representatives have not met eye to eye on certain measures during deliberations on the bill.
A ruling from the Constitutional Court in 2006 found the Corruption Court had violated the 1945 Constitution because it was established under the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) law instead of the law on judicial powers. It mandated that a new law on the Corruption Court must be passed by December 2009, otherwise that court would lose its legal standing.
Anti-corruption activists have expressed concern that the government's draft of the bill currently being discussed at the House could severely weaken the fight against graft because it calls for the corruption court to be made up of a majority of career judges.
The draft has also caused a stir because it calls for the court to be overseen by the district court, and not run independently as it has in the past.
"We believe there has been an attempt from both the government and the House of Representatives to weaken the Corruption Court," Febri said.
"This can be seen through the government's draft bill, which is trying to instate career judges in the corruption court when what is really needed is ad hoc, appointed judges," he said.
In the midst of efforts by the House's special committee overseeing the corruption court bill to pass the draft into law before the end of their term in September, the government suddenly submitted another bill on corruption.
The Golkar Party's Dewi Asmara, chairwoman of the special committee deliberating the corruption court bill, said the sudden submission of this new bill had done nothing but stall proceedings on both bills. (hdt)