Central Jakarta Court secretary Edy Nasution, center, is escorted ahead of questioning by the KPK in relation to a corruption case. Another law enforcer, this time the Bengkulu court chief judge Janner Purba, was also arrested by the KPK on Monday (23/05). (Antara Photo/Sigid Kurniawan

Jakarta. Corruption and judicial watchdogs joined forces on Tuesday (10/05) to admonish the Supreme Court for judicial corruption which has engulfed the body and its subaltern courts with at least 35 court officials found to have been involved in corruption cases since 2002.

In a joint statement under the flag of Judicial Monitoring Coalition — including Indonesian Corruption Watch, Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation, Legal and Policy Study Center and the Indonesian Judiciary Watchdog Society — the group said the arrest of Central Jakarta District Court clerk Edy Nasution on April 20 has exposed the failure to reform the judicial system.

Edy allegedly received more than Rp 50 million ($3,800) in kickbacks from a middleman in relation to a case review. The case also involved Supreme Court secretary Nurhadi whose house was raided by KPK last month.

“The arrest of court official must not be seen as personal matters. It shows weaknesses of judicial system in Supreme Court and its subordinate courts, including in the matters of monitoring, recruitment, transparency, verdict administration and development,” the statement said.

The watchdog groups urged Supreme Court chairman Hatta Ali to issue an official statement on the judicial corruption which has been long occurring in the body, adding that he also needs to map the corruption loopholes together with the KPK and the Judicial Commission.

The statement calls for the antigraft agency to begin systemic reform in judicial bodies, along with necessary intervention, in the Supreme Court to prevent further bribery cases involving judges and clerks.

In 2010, the now-defunct Presidential Delivery Unity for Development, Monitoring and Oversight (UKP4) had mapped the practises of the so-called judicial mafia. The practices included involvement in pre-hearing processes, case registration, the appointment of judges, court hearings and the issuance of verdicts.

The KPK has previously said it is considering the permanent deployment of a unit at the Supreme Court. Deputy chairwoman Basaria Pandjaitan said the agency will discuss its concerns with the court and assess its urgency.