Nivell Rayda& Heru Andriyanto – A group of activists over the weekend called the Judicial Mafia Eradication Task Force a front for protecting government interests and burnishing the antigraft credentials of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
"The task force was established to show that the president was still committed to combating case brokers inside law-enforcement agencies," said Haris Rusli Muchti, who represents an activist group called Petisi 28, which plans to challenge the legality of the presidentially appointed group.
"And what has the task force done? They have held many press conferences but apart from that, they don't do anything worthwhile. The task force is keeping itself away from major cases involving the State Palace, such as the Bank Century scandal or corruption scandals from the elections."
Petisi 28 plans to lodge a motion against the presidential decree that established the task force late last year. Haris said the group planned to file the lawsuit in the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Petisi 28 was founded in October last year to demand that Vice President Boediono and the finance minister at the time, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, step down for their roles in the controversial Bank Century bailout.
Haris claimed that instead of upholding the law, the task force only suggested the president was unable to manage existing law-enforcement bodies such as the National Police and Attorney General's Office.
"If those agencies were working at their best, the president wouldn't need to form ad hoc groups such as the task force, which only causes an overlap in authority with other agencies," he said.
"If anyone deserves our praise for combating case brokers, it is the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK] for uncovering embarrassing case-broker scandals at the AGO in 2008."
Haris dismissed the task force's claim that it played a key role in uncovering the scandal involving former tax official Gayus Tambunan, saying the case would have never surfaced had the National Police's Comr. Gen. Susno Duadji not blown the whistle on it. "The task force only took advantage of Susno's brave move," he said.
The task force, Haris said, had come from nowhere and now told police and prosecutors what to do. "They function like a foreman who serves only the president," he said.
Task Force member Denny Indrayana said that he respected Petisi 28's plan to dispute the legality of the body, but rejected calls for it to be disbanded.
"We must respect the legal rights of every citizen, including those petitioners who plan to lodge a judicial review against the task force," Denny said.
"However, I deplore those who want to disband the task force. Thus far, I thought only case brokers felt uncomfortable about our presence.
"We anticipated counterattacks by those who don't like us – hopefully these petitioners are not being used by the case brokers," he added.
"The job of eradicating the judicial mafia is far from over. We must continue with our work until it is done."