Jakarta Globe, Markus Junianto Sihaloho & Robertus Wardi,
October 6, 2013
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| The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested suspended Constitutional Court chief Akil Mochtar, right, at his house in South Jakarta on Wednesday night, for allegedly accepting bribes in two cases regarding the election of the district heads of Gunung Mas in Central Kalimantan and Lebak in Banten province. (Rumgapres Photo/Abror Rizki) |
The arrest of Constitutional Court chief justice Akil
Mochtar by the country’s antigraft body could significantly change the
political map in next year’s elections.
Regional Representatives Council (DPD) deputy chairman La
Ode Ida said Akil’s arrest suggests corruption may have played a part in the
determination of other disputed election cases in which Akil participated since
joining the court.
Akil was elected to fill a vacancy in the Constitutional
Court in 2009, immediately after stepping down from a decade’s service as a
House of Representatives member from the Golkar Party. The same year, the
Constitutional Court took over the Supreme Court’s responsibility for
determining regional election disputes, thanks to an amendment to the regional
governance law.
“All verdicts of the Constitutional Court, especially those
handled by Akil Mochtar, should be considered suspect,” La Ode said in Jakarta
on Friday.
La Ode said he would not be surprised to see people
challenge verdicts previously issued by the court.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested Akil at
his house in South Jakarta on Wednesday night, for allegedly accepting bribes
in two cases regarding the election of the district heads of Gunung Mas in
Central Kalimantan and Lebak in Banten province.
Also arrested was Tubagus Chaeri Wardana, who is the brother
of Banten Governor Ratu Atut Chosiyah, and the husband of South Tangerang
mayor, Airin Rachmi Diany.
Tubagus, along with lawyer Susi Tur Andayani, are suspected
of giving Rp 1 billion ($87,000) worth of kickbacks to Akil to persuade the
chief justice to scrap the results of the Lebak district election held in
August.
Since decisions by the Constitutional Court require the
agreement of a majority of its nine member judges, La Ode said it was only
natural that the public will suspect corruption among some of the other
justices, too.
La Ode is calling for a moratorium on all cases currently
being handled by the court.
“The president must issue a government regulation in lieu of
law [ p er p u ] so that regional election disputes will no longer be handled
by the Constitutional Court, because this is a breeding ground for the legal
mafia,” he said.
Greek chorus
La Ode’s concerns have been echoed by a number of
politicians and their lawyers. Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P)
deputy secretary general Hasto Kristianto said Akil’s arrest could rekindle
suspicions about unfair verdicts related to regional election disputes in Bali
and West Java.
Hasto said he had heard allegations from “a reliable source”
that the Constitutional Court ruled against his party’s candidates Rieke Diah
Pitaloka and Teten Masduki because judges received a Rp 20 billion bribe from
rival candidates.
Hasto also claimed that Rp 80 billion in bribes determined
the result in the contested Bali gubernatorial election, where PDI-P’s
candidate pair Puspayoga-Sukrawan were unsuccessful.
“So who is responsible for proving the rumors? The state has
to prove them in order to uphold democracy,” Hasto said.
A group of lawyers calling themselves “Lawyers’ Solidarity
for Regional Elections” visited the KPK building on Friday to report Akil’s
alleged corrupt decisions in several other regional election disputes.
“We received information and solidarity from our colleagues
involved in cases about other regional elections such as in Palembang,
Mandailing Natal, Kediri and several other regions, which involved Akil
Mochtar,” said M Soleh, one of the lawyers from SPP.
Soleh said SPP supported the KPK’s investigating Akil’s
possible involvement in awarding victories to undeserving parties in regional
elections, and also called on authorities to suspend all verdicts issued by
Akil.
Hanan Zulkarnain, who ran for the mayorship of Prabumulih,
South Sumatra, shared a similar opinion calling for a review of all verdicts
issued by the court during Akil’s leadership.
“Since Akil was caught red-handed by the KPK for accepting
bribes over the Lebak, Banten, regional election, there’s a possibility that he
also took bribes in other [cases related to] regional elections,” Hanan told
reporters.
A lawyer from Medan, North Sumatra said many of the cases he
handled had been rejected by Akil.
“I have handled many cases at the Constitutional Court,”
said Roder Nababan, a lawyer in Medan. “Lawsuits that I was certain would be
approved by Akil Mochtar would often get rejected. There are rumors of
organized crime in the court.
“This crime is very organized. And the arrest by the KPK
serves as evidence to this. There are many lawsuits regarding regional
elections that were rejected by him. Some others were approved merely to cover
up his deeds.”
A senior researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences,
Siti Zuhro, said corruption at the highest level of the justice system
represented a grave threat to democracy.
“The public may be wondering whether Akil Mocthar’s case was
the death knell for justice in Indonesia. Why have there been so many law enforcers
involved in bribery and graft cases? What does democracy mean amid the death of
law enforcement?” Siti said in Jakarta on Friday.
Siti said the Indonesian people were despairing in the face
of a litany of corruption and bribery cases involving every branch of power —
legislative, judicial and executive.
She added that the erosion of the public’s faith in the
honesty of political parties and elected representatives, and the fairness of
general elections, meant that the very belief in the value of democracy was
waning.
Siti said rampant corruption cases showed that the fight
against corruption, collusion and nepotism had been defeated by a strong wave
of political lawlessness.
“Morality and ethics have been overshadowed by pragmatism
and opportunism, which are seen as bringing more benefits. Such a disoriented
mindset needs to be corrected to a more positive mindset,” she said.
Political analyst Andrinof Chaniago concurred, saying that
many holders of public office were in their positions for the wrong reason.
Public servants have abandoned their sense of duty in favor of the pursuit of
personal wealth, he said.
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The
Constitutional Court, once seen as squeaky clean, has been rocked
by the arrest
of its chief justice, Akil Mochtar, for bribery. (JG Photo/Safir Makki)
|
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