The Jakarta Post, June 11, 2002
Senior judges to be sent to Ambon to deal with unfinished cases
Kurniawan Hari and Oktovianus Pinontoan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Ambon
A group of senior judges are gearing up for a mission to Ambon, the capital of restive
Maluku province, where they are expected to deal with 106 unfinished legal cases.
Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on Monday the
experienced judges would wait until the Attorney General's Office (AGO) had
completed the dossiers related to the cases before going.
Yusril said the judges would be withdrawn to Jakarta as soon as the legal
proceedings finish.
"There are 106 cases that will be presented by the Attorney General's Office to the
court (in Ambon) and we will send judges there," Yusril told reporters after a hearing
with House Commission II for law, human rights and home affairs here.
Law enforcement has been crippled in Maluku following three years of sectarian
conflict, which has left over 6,000 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced.
Violence has continued to take place despite a peace deal signed by the warring
groups in February.
Yusril said the senior judges would accompany six newly recruited judges in Ambon,
who had no experience in presiding over trials.
"Therefore the tasks (to preside over trials) will be conducted by the senior judges,"
Yusril said.
The number of Ambon-bound judges remains undecided, according to the minister.
The six newly recruited judges were among 121 fresh judges assigned in 2001 and
2002 to the three conflict-ridden areas of Aceh, Maluku and Irian Jaya (Papua).
"The presidential decree has just been issued and they are already in Ambon now,"
the Ministry's Director General for Ordinary and State Administrative Court, Suyatno,
told The Jakarta Post.
Both Yusril and Suyatno acknowledged that the rotation of judges was a sensitive
issue which could spark protest from those affected.
"If they are unhappy with their new posts, they are likely to quit and circulate various
rumors," Yusril said.
Suyatno added that many judges in certain district courts had in the past declined a
proposed promotion to the high court for financial reasons.
He admitted that based on the current remuneration scheme, promotion to a high
court did not mean a salary increase for district court judges.
"Some chief judges or deputy judges in district courts have turned down promotion
because they will receive less pay after tax," Suyatno said, adding that his ministry
was proposing a decree that would guarantee a salary hike for promoted judges.
Based on the proposed decree, Suyatno said, four-echelon judges will receive an
increase of between Rp 3.5 million and Rp 4.25 million in their monthly salaries if they
are moved to high courts.
"At the moment there are many judges asking for promotion to the high court," said
Suyatno.
Legislator Tahir Saimima of the United Development Party (PPP), who is a native of
Ambon, said the trend reflected judges' attitude toward money.
Meanwhile, Vice President Hamzah Haz is slated to arrive in Ambon on Tuesday at
11:20 a.m. local time for a six-hour visit.
Many consider the visit controversial because the Vice President will also take with
him 76 security guards.
Hamzah's entourage will include the new Indonesian Military chief, Gen. Endriartono
Sutarto, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar and several ministers.
Hamzah plans to visit Soya village, where seven Christians were killed late in April,
and Kebun Cengkeh, the stronghold of Laskar Jihad Muslim hardliners.
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