South Jakarta District Court substitute court clerk Tarmizi (right) leaves the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters in South Jakarta wearing a KPK prisoner’s vest after undergoing questioning on Wednesday (23/8). Tarmizi was questioned by KPK investigators in relation to a bribe he allegedly accepted to influence the verdict of a civil dispute case in the South Jakarta District Court.
The arrest of the South Jakarta District Court substitute clerk, Tarmizi, by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has further tarnished the face of the judicial system.
Tarmizi was arrested by the KPK on Monday (21/8) because he was suspected of receiving Rp 400 million in bribes from Akhmadi Zaini, the lawyer of PT Aquamarine Divindo Inspection (ADI). It is believed the bribery is related to an October 2016 civil suit concerning a breach of contract,through which PT ADI has been sued for compensation of US$7.6 million and S$131,000 by Eastern Jason Fabrication Services (EJFS). Tarmizi was expected to influence the court\'s verdict.
The KPK has not found any connection between Tarmizi and the judicial panel handling the civil case. However, the arrest further illustrates that the country’s judicial system is vulnerable to manipulation, especially through bribery, which could influence the verdict. A court verdict influenced by bribery certainly disrupts our sense of justice.
Tarmizi is not the first court clerk ever arrested in connection with a bribery or corruption case. In the last four years, according to Kompas’s data, five clerks at district courts in Jakarta, Bandung and Medan have been arrested, and several of them have been tried and punished for being found guilty of receiving bribes. Aside from court clerks, a number of judges, lawyers, police officers and prosecutors of the judicial system have also been arrested and tried for bribery.
The bribe was most certainly intended to influence the trial. The public’s sense of justice is being toyed with. In reality, even though the case might be colored by bribery and other forms of illicit pressure on many occasions, justice will surely reveal itself.
The Supreme Court, as the peak of the judicial system, has made various efforts to prevent judicial deviations in the court process. This is reflected in the survey results of the Global Corruption Barometer 2017, compiled by Transparency International Indonesia (TII), which no longer ranks the court as the fifth most corrupt institution in Indonesia. The court ranks sixth with a current grade of 32 after the House of Representatives (DPR), the bureaucracy, the Provincial/City Legislative Council (DPRD), police and ministries.
If they want to deviate from the legal process, the court clerks are already on the front lines: they are the ones who record court procedures and manage cases, so they could influence the judges in their verdicts.
KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah explained that as of January 2017, the commission had investigated43 judges and court staff in corruption cases, most of which were related to bribery. In fact, a Latin adage, “abite nummi, ego vos mergam, ne mergar a vobis” (Away with you, money, I had rather drown you, than you should drown me), reminds us that money can harm or kill human dignity.
