Mariel Grazella, Jakarta – Irked by the foot-dragging investigations of myriad corruption cases, a group of high-profile legal experts, social activists and academics launched the Anti-Judicial Mafia Movement (GeRAM Hukum) on Wednesday.
Indonesia is awash in unresolved judicial corruption cases, including the never-ending saga of former low-level tax official Gayus H. Tambunan, who was recently convicted of corruption.
Gayus' testimony in court has raised more questions than answers after he implicated police officers, prosecutors, attorneys and a judge in bribery scandals.
"We feel infuriated that the law, in the hands of corrupt officials, has become an object of commodification and criminalization to enrich oneself, or to blackmail or eliminate political foes," Zainal Arifin Mochtar, director of the Center for Anticorruption Studies at Gadjah Mada University, said.
Gayus' case heated up politically after he claimed that the Rp 28 billion (US$3.1 million) in his bank account came in part from companies under the Bakrie Group that were partly owned by Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently issued 12 instructions for various government bodies to resolve the Gayus case.
Zainal added that GeRAM Hukum would support government institutions that fight corruption.
"This includes the Corruption Eradication Commission [KPK], the Judicial Mafia Taskforce, the Witness and Victim Protection Agency, the Financial Transaction Analysis and Report Centre and the Corruption Court," he said.
Transparency International Indonesia secretary-general Teten Masduki said GeRAM Hukum would place pressure on the National Police and the Attorney General's Office to eradicate the judicial mafia.
The police and prosecutors have been criticized for not pursuing the so-called big fish behind Gayus until now. No action has been taken against prosecutors Cirus Sinaga, Poltak Manulang and Fadil Regan for allegedly accepting bribes to doctor Gayus' indictment.
Teten added that GeRAM Hukum would call on the public to pressure the government to eradicate judicial corruption, given its lack of political will. "We have experience in pressuring the government," he said. "The legal technicalities are not so difficult."
GeRAM Hukum members agreed to show strong support of the KPK as it begins its investigation of Gayus' case. The KPK recently announced it would investigate the legion of bribery allegations surrounding Gayus' case.
Lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis also said that the KPK must handle the investigation because "there have been so many cover-ups in the case".
"Action has been taken against certain immigration officials but those from the police and the AGO remain untouched," he said.
GeRAM Hukum members also expressed doubt in the ability of the House of Representatives' recently formed special committee on tax crime.
Ikrar Nusa Bakti, an analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, said that backroom dealing has taken place within the special committee. "The internal [members] of the House have been politicking so we can't place much hope in them," he added.