Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Bureaucrats and activists hailed President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's decision Friday to uphold a Constitutional Court ruling by removing Hendarman Supandji from his post as attorney general.
The dismissal was based on the Court's decision to partially grant a judicial review requested by former minister and graft suspect Yusril Ihza Mahendra, who said Hendarman's tenure had ended with that of the President's first Cabinet in 2009.
Court chief justice Mahfud MD said he was "certain from the start" the President would uphold the ruling by dismissing Hendarman. "The President has always said that as the guardian of the Constitution, he would obey the verdict," he said.
Mahfud added that the President had taken time to reach the decision because he wanted to "comprehensively study the verdict".
The Court issued the verdict on Wednesday, two months after Yusril requested a review on contentious articles in the 2004 Attorney General's Office (AGO) Law, which state that the President had the prerogative to appoint and dismiss the attorney general, and that the attorney general was part of the Cabinet.
"The President issued the decree on Friday afternoon after he had studied the verdict and confirmed it with me," Mahfud said.
Constitutional Court justice Akil Mochtar said the President's move, although late, was a good step forward in defending the rule of law in Indonesia.
On Saturday afternoon, Hendarman held a press conference at his house, where he said the President's decision to dismiss him with honor was a "great relief".
"I'm not just a 100 percent relieved, but 2,000 percent. I hold no grudges. I guess that from now on I'm going to live my life happily with my family," he said, adding that he had himself told the President that it was better to uphold the Court ruling.
Deputy attorney general for supervision Marwan Effendy said the President's decision would not negatively impact on the work of the AGO. "The handling of corruption [cases] will go on," he was reported as saying by news portal kompas.com.
Yudhoyono appointed Darmono, a former deputy attorney general, as acting attorney general on Friday. Darmono said he would carry out his responsibilities to the best of his abilities "so that I can fulfill the President's and the people's hopes".
Judicial Mafia Taskforce member Mas Achmad Santosa said the acting attorney general's tasks were similar to the attorney general's. "The only difference is that the acting attorney general's tasks will be temporary," he told The Jakarta Post, adding that the President would appoint a new attorney general as announced beforehand.
The President was seeking a replacement for Hendarman, whose tenure would have officially ended next month, prior to the Constitutional Court ruling.
State Secretary Sudi Silalahi said the government was committed to speeding up the process of appointing a new attorney general. He said the President had several candidates, including eight prosecutors nominated by Hendarman.
Two candidates fighting it out for a key seat at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Bambang Widjojanto and Busyro Muqoddas, have also been touted as possible nominees.
Mugiyanto, an activist from the Indonesian Association of Families of the Disappeared (Ikohi), said the selection of a new attorney general would be a good start to improving the country's human rights record.
"The AGO has always been the weakest link in the handling of serious human rights violations," he said. "They have systematically refused to deal with human rights cases, paying only lip service to the concept of human rights," he said. (gzl)