Scandalous bribery committed by senior judge tests Indonesia's democracy

The ongoing investigation against those implicated in a bribery case that puts Akil Mochtar, chief of judges at the Constitutional Court (MK), in detention center of Indonesia's powerful anticorruption agency (KPK) drew public attention in the last few days as it reveals more surprising facts about corruption perpetrated by the MK chief. The arrest of Akil was considered a major blow to Indonesia in preserving democracy as the MK is the highest legal institution originally established to safeguard democracy in the country. The MK was originally assigned to produce final and legally- binding decisions on electoral results and political party disputes, reviewing laws and legislations considered unfit with the developing condition. Its decision was highly expected to assure democracy stays in place in Indonesia. Akil was arrested red-handed by KPK investigators in his official residence on Oct. 2 along with bribe cash totaling almost 3 billion rupiah (about 267,000 U.S. dollars). The money was related to results of regent election in Gunung Mas regency in Central Kalimantan province. The KPK had declared suspect status against Akil and the female legislator. They were charged with involving in the bribery case. Meanwhile, the KPK investigators arrested a candidate of regent election in Lebak regency, West Java. The candidate, who was declared a suspect by the KPK, was arrested for attempting to bribe Akil some 1 billion rupiah (about 91,200 U.S. dollars) to win the Lebak regent election. Refly Harun, a noted lawyer and a legal analyst said Sunday that bribery and extortion practices related to regional elections have long been conducted in the MK that was established in 2003. He said that in 2010 when Akil served as an MK judge, he had asked some money from regent candidates while handling disputes of regional election results. He questioned the process conducted in the parliament to elect Akil as the MK chief of judges, saying that the parliament did not do the fit and proper test to review Akil's performance in the previous period when he served as a judge in the institution. "Selection process must constitute track record review, particularly on legal decision made by the MK chief of judges candidates,"Refly said in a forum discussing the role of MK in regional elections. Akil was inaugurated as the chief of judges in MK in April this year, or a few months before being arrested under bribery charge by the KPK. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was apparently surprised to respond to the arrest of Akil. "MK is a very important institution as it has such a crucial role in determining the life of the state and the government," the president said in the following day after Akil's arrest. "Imagine if its decision turns out to be wrong. Imagine if fraud mars on that decision. Even if no fraud persists in it, if the decision was wrong, it would bring such a huge impact on the country's statehood as its decision is final and binding," the president said of the danger of corruption in MK. Indonesia, the largest economy in Southeast Asia region, is struggling hard to eradicate corruption that is still rampant in the country. The intense corruption has made Indonesia earn index score of 3 in Corruption Perception Index (CPI) survey carried out by international anti-graft agency Transparency International (TI) last year. It ranks Indonesia at No. 100 among 183 countries surveyed by TI.