The Broker Of The Case At The Supreme Court Is Increasingly Declining Public Trust In The Law In Indonesia

Former MA official Zarof Ricar walked to the detention car after being questioned at the Attorney General's Office, Jakarta, Friday, October 25, 2024. (ANTARA/Asprilla Dwi Adha)

JAKARTA - Former Supreme Court (MA) official Zarof Ricar has been named a suspect in the alleged bribery case of Gregorius Ronald Tannur's acquittal. In the spotlight, the Attorney General's Office found nearly Rp1 trillion in cash at his home.

The case that dragged Ronald Tannur (32) back into the public spotlight. On Wednesday (23/10) the Attorney General's Office arrested three judges at the Surabaya District Court (PN) who were suspected of accepting bribes in a case that released Ronald Tannur. The three judges were Erintuah Damanik, Mangapul, and Hari Hanindyo who were judges at the Surabaya District Court. They acquitted Ronald Tannur in a verdict hearing on Wednesday, July 24, 2024. The AGO team also arrested Ronald Tannur's lawyer, Lisa Rachmat.

This case became increasingly of concern after the AGO through the Investigation Team of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) made the arrest of Zarof Ricar as a former MA official.

Ronald Tanur is a defendant in the case of assaulting his girlfriend, Dini Sera Afrianti, to death. However, on July 24, 2024, the son of a politician from the National Awakening Party (PKB) from East Nusa Tenggara, Edward Tannur, was declared free by three members of the panel of judges at the Surabaya District Court, namely Erintuah Damanik, Mangapul, and Hari Hanindyo.

In the trial of the verdict, this 32-year-old man was declared not proven to have mistreated and killed his girlfriend, Dini. In a number of reports, Dini is said to have died from being abused and run over by Ronald's car.

However, in its ruling, the panel of judges stated that Dini died from other diseases and drank alcohol. The prosecutor also contradicts the prosecutor's 12-year prison sentence.

This free verdict sparked public outrage and the three judges were reported by the Judicial Commission to the Supreme Court Supervisory Agency. On October 22, the prosecutor's appeal was granted by the Supreme Court, which canceled the Surabaya District Court's acquittal and sentenced Ronald to five years in prison.

The day after, the AGO arrested three judges at the Surabaya District Court whose verdict released Ronald Tannur. They are said to have been caught in the AGO's arrest operation (OTT), who also arrested Ronald's lawyer, Lisa Rachmat.

Then in Bali, on October 23 at around 22.00 WITA, the Bali High Prosecutor's Office arrested former MA official Zarof Ricar. The evidence that was secured from ZR's hands was in the form of money in several foreign currencies, totaling Rp920.91 billion and Antam's 51 kilograms of gold metal.

Director of Investigation Jampidsus AGO Abdul Qohar explained Zarof's involvement in this case was as a liaison between lawyer Ronald Tanur and Supreme Court judge for cassation management.

In this case, Lisa asked Zarof to try Supreme Court Justices to continue to declare Ronald Tannur innocent in his Cassation Decision. Lisa promised the Supreme Court justices Rp5 billion.

The findings of nearly Rp1 trillion in cash and tens of kilograms of gold at Zarof Ricar's house immediately seized public attention. The money was allegedly a gratuity that Zarof received when he served as an MA official and became a case broker to benefit litigants.

"For proof, because one of the reasons is gratification, we will give the widest possible opportunity to explain where the money was obtained," Qohar said at a press conference at the Attorney General's Office, Friday (25/10).

Especially for the Ronald Tannur case, from the Rp5 billion promised by Lisa, Zarof is said to have received a fee of Rp1 billion for his services lobbying the Supreme Court judge. According to media reports, Zarof is suspected of being involved as a case broker in many case management in the Supreme Court from 2012 to 2022, to having a price of trillions of rupiah.

Criminal law observer from JFB & Partners Farizal Pranata Bahri emphasized that Zarof and three judges from the Surabaya District Court tarnished the face of the judiciary in Indonesia. However, he did not deny that case brokers like Zarof did generally occur in almost every agency.

The arrest of Zarof was quite surprising. People who still find it difficult to access justice become increasingly distrustful of the judiciary as a result of this case," Farizal told VOI.

Ini merupakan oknum yang menggunakan jabatan atau hubungannya untuk memperoleh keuntungan pribadi. Jadi oknum seperti hampir pasti ada di setiap instansi baik pemerintah atau swasta, kata dia menambahkan.

The same thing was said by Julius Hebrew as Chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Center (PBHI) who appreciated Jampidsus for successfully uncovering this case. According to him, this case is not a simple case, but a systemic and structured problem.

"The model of cases that have been structured and systemic like this is not a case for a year or two but must have occurred for decades and actually if you look at cases involving high-ranking MA officials before, the pattern is the same, not a new pattern," said Julius.

"So it's not surprising that this extraordinary number, definitely not one or two people who play, this full support is investigated to the roots," he added.

Farizal Pranata Bahri said that the judicial system must be made as transparent as possible so that case brokers like this do not happen again. According to him, when the case is already in the Supreme Court, because the trial cannot be seen by the public and is known in real time, practices like this are prone to occur.

"Hopefully in the future the integrity of judges can continue to be improved because there are still many judges out there who are left behind or remote areas who have to struggle to live," said Fariza.

"But due to this person's existence, their names were also bad. The promise of the judge when he was sworn in must always be remembered because they are the last bastion of justice seekers in this country," he concluded.