The Supreme Court (MA) is urged to actively combat judicial mafia after the former Chief Judge of the Surabaya District Court, Rudi Suparmono, was named a suspect in the alleged bribery and gratification case of Ronald Tannur’s acquittal by the investigators of the Junior Attorney General for Special Crimes (JAM-Pidsus) at the Attorney General’s Office.
Criminal law lecturer at Trisakti University, Abdul Fickar Hadjar, said that Rudi’s designation as a suspect further strengthens the indication of a systemic judicial mafia within the Supreme Court. This is because the case construction prepared by the Kejagung investigators revealed the flow of funds to the panel of judges, substitute clerks, and even the Chief of the District Court. For him, this case must be taken seriously by the leaders of the Supreme Court.
According to Fickar, to eradicate the judicial mafia, the Supreme Court must cleanse personnel suspected or indicated of violating the code of ethics. The personnel include judges, clerks, and administrative staff. The implementation of strict discipline has become urgent, such as the dismissal of personnel if a criminal case is found. “Bawas (Supervisory Board) must be selected from judges with integrity, and if necessary, mostly chosen from qualified members of the public to oversee judges.”Likewise, the KY (Judicial Commission) should not just wait for reports,” Fickar added on Thursday (16/1).
As an external supervisor of the Supreme Court, KY is asked to collaborate with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) across Indonesia to oversee judges, especially those serving in courts in major cities. In addition, Fickar emphasized the importance of tightening the recruitment pattern for new judges.
“Don’t hire job seekers because they will always look for extra income through their gavel.” No matter how much the judge’s salary has been increased, judicial corruption will still exist,” he said.
From the search results at Rudi’s residence, the JAM-Pidsus investigators seized money amounting to Rp21 billion. The money is larger than the bribe that Rudi is believed to have received in the case of the acquittal of Ronald Tannur, which was Sing$63 thousand. Previously, another suspect in the case, namely the former Head of the Legal and Judicial Training Agency of the Supreme Court, Zarof Ricar, also kept a large amount of money in his house, valued at nearly Rp1 trillion.
Fickar suspects that the Rp920 billion in cash seized by investigators from Zarof is a deposit from judges who have not yet retired and have not yet been collected. The money was allegedly intentionally entrusted to Zarof because they were worried it would be traced by the LHKPN system.
“By digging into and revealing Zarof’s confession, I believe the judicial mafia will be exposed, which will cause many parties, including the leaders of law enforcement agencies, to hide their money,” concluded Fickar.
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