Safeguarding the Last Bastion

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

Supreme Court Justice Sudrajad Dimyati (center) wearing an orange vest and being led to a prisoner's car after undergoing an examination at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Jakarta, on Friday (23/9/2022).

Sudradjat Dimyati has become the first supreme justice to be examined by the Corruption Eradication Commission. The case has again served as a sign of further improvement for the Supreme Court.

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has declared Sudradjat a suspect in the case of a legal proceedings bribery in the Supreme Court (MA). The case was uncovered through its operations in Semarang and Jakarta on Wednesday evening (21/9/2022), having named 10 suspects.

In September 2013, Sudrajat was in the spotlight in connection with his alleged lobbying of members of the House of Representatives. At the time, he was in the process of becoming a supreme justice. However, after being examined by a special team formed by the (then) MA Chairman Hatta Ali, he was found not guilty.

Nurhadi was found to have gained Rp 83 billion (US$5.5 million).

It is not the first time that the KPK has investigated cases of a proceedings arrangement in the MA. In March 2021, former MA Secretary Nurhadi was sentenced to six years in prison for his involvement in a litigation arrangement in the MA. Nurhadi was found to have gained Rp 83 billion (US$5.5 million).

Also read:

> Bribery Allegedly Still Occurs at the Supreme Court

> Judicial Elegy

A further look back will show more justices and court personnel within the MA having been subjected to legal actions due to corruption cases. Four years ago, (then) Chairman of the MA Supervisory Chamber Sunarto warned, “Justices who cannot be fostered will be removed.” (Kompas, 30/8/2018).

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO (WAK)

Former Secretary of the Supreme Court (MA) Nurhadi was questioned by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigative team at the KPK Building, Kuningan, Jakarta, on Thursday (6/8/2020).

Sunarto made this warning because the MA had conducted a great deal of reordering, including the upgrading of judges and court staffers. Those found guilty were prosecuted, denied judicial functions and dismissed. Yet there were still cases of judges and court personnel being held by the KPK. Now, even a supreme justice is liable to legal examination.

As the last bastion defending legal justice in the country, the judicial institution is indeed a target of many circles with diverse interests. The integrity of judges and the judicial apparatus is the vital key to the maintenance of justice, legal certainty and legal advantage in the judicial institution. Without an adequate degree of integrity, some of the systems designed to preserve the dignity of the judicial institution can be penetrated.

The case of Sudradjat indicates that the MA’s endeavor to create a clean and authoritative court in the country has again been disrupted. Maintaining and strengthening the integrity of judges and the judicial establishment remain a problem that cannot yet be thoroughly resolved.

The statement by MA Spokesman Andi Samsan Nganro that the MA would be cooperative and leave the case of Sudrajat to the legal mechanism under the authority of the KPK also deserves appreciation.

Sudradjat’s decision to visit the KPK after being designated as a suspect is worth appreciating as a form of his respect for the law. The statement by MA Spokesman Andi Samsan Nganro that the MA would be cooperative and leave the case of Sudrajat to the legal mechanism under the authority of the KPK also deserves appreciation.

The legal action against Sudradjat, especially when a court verdict is passed, will be part of an important sign of the extent to which the MA is capable of upholding legal justice in the country. Confidence in the law contributes to the continuity of a nation. The MA is of course fully aware of this.

(This article was translated by Aris Prawira)