First Judge Convicted of Graft Jailed for Six Years

Jakarta Globe, Nivell Rayda, August 02, 2010

A dejected Ibrahim after hearing he will spend the next six years behind bars for receiving a bribe in a land dispute case. His lawyer said the only reason Ibrahim took the bribe was because he needed cash to pay for kidney dialysis. (Antara Photo)

Jakarta. Judge Ibrahim made history on Monday by becoming the first Indonesian judge to be convicted of graft.

The Anti-Corruption Court ordered him jailed for six years for accepting Rp 300 million ($33,300) in bribes.

Ibrahim, already suspended from his duties at the Jakarta State Administrative High Court, admitted receiving the bribe from lawyer Adner Sirait and his client, businessman Darianus Lungguk Sitorus, in exchange for a favorable ruling in a land dispute.

The judge, caught a few minutes after receiving the bribe, was also ordered to pay Rp 200 million in fines or face an additional three months in prison.

The sentence was half the 12 years sought by prosecutors, but the judges cited Ibrahim’s remorse and chronic kidney failure as mitigating circumstances for their ruling.

“The defendant has sullied the judicial system,” Judge Jupriadi, who presided over Ibrahim's trial, said when reading out the verdict.

Both Ibrahim and the prosecutors have a week to decide whether to appeal.

“I will think about it, your honor,” Ibrahim said when asked whether he would appeal.

His lawyer, Junimart Girsang, called the ruling regrettable.

“My client is ill. The only reason he was tempted to accept the bribe was the fact that he had to undergo dialysis twice a week, and the Supreme Court refused to cover his medical expenses,” Junimart said.

“While we respect the guilty verdict and my client has admitted to the crime, we feel that the court should not have given Ibrahim any jail time on humanitarian grounds.”

The case against Ibrahim revolved around overlapping claims by Darianus’s company, Sabar Ganda, and the West Jakarta administration over a 10-hectare plot of land in Cengkareng, West Jakarta.

A lower court ruled in favor of the state, but Sabar Ganda appealed to the Jakarta State Administrative High Court. Prosecutors say Ibrahim asked Adner for a bribe before the appeal was even heard.

The prosecutors quoted a witness who heard Ibrahim telling Adner: “There’s no need to prepare the documents. I'll handle the case. Just show me the money. Give me around Rp 300 million.”

Adner and Darianus are also on trial at the Anti-Corruption Court.

Prosecutors from the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) are scheduled to present their witnesses when their hearings resume next Monday.

Adnan Topan Husodo, deputy chairman of Indonesia Corruption Watch, said Ibrahim’s conviction was a major step toward eradicating the so-called judicial mafia.

“The Supreme Court must take this case and use it to instigate reforms across the board,” he said.

Adnan also highlighted the need for stricter supervision of the judicial system, one of the most corrupt institutions in the country according to a survey by Transparency International Indonesia.

Indonesian judges’ actions are monitored by the Judicial Commission, an independent body with powers to supervise the court system but widely regarded as toothless as it can only come out with recommendations.

The watchdog, which receives about 200 complaints a year, has recommended more than 100 judges be brought before a Supreme Court tribunal, but only 11 cases have been heard, with just two judges punished since 2004, when the commission was established.

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