JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The Supreme Court (MA) has decided not to punish the court’s director general of general courts, Herri Swantoro, the immediate superior of Manado High Court chief justice Sudiwardono, who was recently arrested by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for bribery. The court said that Herri had carried out his official duty of guiding and monitoring all high court chief justices, including Sudiwardono.
Center for Anti-Corruption Studies researcher Oce Madrilat Gadjah Mada University (UGM) said that the decision reflected the high tendency among MA officials to shield one another from legal consequences. As a result, it would be difficult to effectively implement the MA Chief’s edict of Sept. 11, which was issued as an effort to eradicate the illicit practices within the judiciary that had led to the arrests of many court officials.
“The edict was good and it was a brave initiative. However, it will be difficult to implement and it does not prove the MA’s anti-corruption commitment. The policy’s implementation highly depends on the political will of MA officials,” Oce said on Monday (9/10/2017).
The edict’s Article 4 stipulates that the Supreme Court will dismissleaders of the MA or of lower courts from their positions as direct superiors if it was proven that they had not carried out their duty of guiding and monitoring their subordinates regularly and continuously.
Clarification
MA monitoring head Sunarto said that his division had requested Herri’s clarification on Monday. Sunarto said Herri had explained that he had provided materials on corruption and deviation prevention to all high court chief justices.
“Working visits, impromptu inspections, uploading materials to the directorate general’s website, and informal warnings had also been undertaken. The investigation team concluded that the director general of general courts had fulfilled his duty of guiding and monitoring in accordance with the rules,” Sunarto said.
He added that, no matter how great the guidance and monitoring system was, it would not be effective without the willingness of court officials to change their habits for the better.
The MA has temporarily dismissed Sudiwardono, who was arrested by the KPK on Oct. 6. He is suspected of having received bribe from Golkar Party politician Aditya Anugrah Moha in exchange for manipulating the ruling in the appeal case of former Bolaang Mongondow regent Marlina Moha Siahaan, who is Aditya’s mother.
Sudiwardono handled Marlina’s appeal against her corruption sentence. The Bolaang Mongondow Police investigated that corruption case in 2014 under the KPK’s supervision. The case resulted in corruption sentences for six individuals, including Marlina.
“The handling of the Bolaang Mongondow corruption case is an example of case management with the KPK’s coordination and supervision,” KPK spokesman Febri Diansyah said.
(IAN/NTA/ZAL)