The Constitutional Court Was Asked Not To Involve Guntur Hamzah And Arief Hidayat Regarding The Case Of The Removal Of Judge Aswanto

Illustration. Constitutional judge in the plenary courtroom of the Constitutional Court Building (MK), Jakarta. (Between-M Risyal Hidayat)

JAKARTA - The Panel of Judges of the Constitutional Court (MK) was asked not to involve Judge Guntur Hamzah and Judge Arief Hidayat in adjudicating the case of the dismissal of former Constitutional Justice Aswanto.

"This case is a case to replace Constitutional Justice Aswanto with Constitutional Justice Guntur Hamzah; so because this case is closely related to Constitutional Justice Guntur Hamzah, it is fitting that Constitutional Justice Guntur Hamzah does not try the a quo case," said a lawyer named Zico Leonard Djagardo Simanjuntak when delivering an amendment to the provision request to test the Constitutional Court Law (UU), monitored from the Constitutional Court's YouTube channel, Wednesday, March 1.

Apart from Guntur Hamzah, Zico also asked the panel of judges to exclude Arief Hidayat.

"Because Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat granted the formal test of the a quo law and in the 103 decision did not participate in the trial. So, it should be that Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat does not try the a quo case," he explained.

Quoted from the decision Number 103/PUU-XX/2022, which was also requested by Zico, and regarding the replacement of former judge Aswanto, only eight constitutional judges decided the case, namely Anwar Usman as chairman and concurrently member, Aswanto, Wahiduddin Adams, Saldi Isra, Manahan M. P. Sitompul, Enny Nurbaningsih, Suhartoyo, and Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh.

Therefore, Zico asked the panel of judges to exclude Arief Hidayat in adjudicating case Number 17/PUU-XXI/2023.

In the main point of his petition, Zico explained that Aswanto's honorable dismissal was without justified legal basis. In fact, he said, the DPR tried to legitimize Aswanto's dismissal by revising the Constitutional Court Law and including the provisions for the evaluation of constitutional judges.

"This act cannot be justified at all because it has plunged the judiciary into political manipulation," he added.

Thus, Zico is worried that the constitution will no longer be commander-in-chief and will lose by political interests.

"There is a constitutional mandate for the Constitutional Court to declare Aswanto's dismissal unconstitutional, as well as the constitutional judge's evaluation system," said Zico.

Previously, Zico Leonard Djajardo Simanjuntak suspected that there was a judge who deliberately changed the substance of the Constitutional Court's decision before being uploaded on the official website. He suspects that two Constitutional Court judges are related to the change in the substance of case decision number 103/PUU-XX/2022 regarding the judicial review of the Constitutional Court Law which discussed the dismissal of Judge Aswanto.

When asked who the names of the two suspected Constitutional Court judges were, Zico was reluctant to answer. Even though he only suspects two names, Zico still reports nine Constitutional Court judges because according to him they must still be questioned by the police.

Represented by his attorney, Zico has reported the Constitutional Court judge to the Java Metro Police registered with the number LP/B/557/II/2023/SPKT/Polda Metro Jaya dated February 1, 2023. The report dragged the Constitutional Court judge on suspicion of falsifying Article 263 of the Criminal Code.

The following are the names of the 9 judges of the Constitutional Court and 2 clerks reported by OZico on suspicion of falsifying the Constitutional Court's decision.

1. Anwar Usman (Constitute Judge)2. Arief Hidayat (Constitute Judge)3. Wahiduddin Adams ( Constitutional Law Judge)4. Suhartoyo ( Constitutional Law Judge)5. Manahan MP Sitompul ( Constitutional Law Judge)6. Saldi Isra ( Constitutional Law Judge)7. Enny Nurbaningsih ( Constitutional Law Judge) 8. Daniel Yusmic Pancastaki Foekh ( Constitutional Law Judge)9. M. Guntur Hamzah ( Constitutional Law Judge) 10. Muhidin (Paniter Case No. 103/PUU-XX/2022)11. Nurlidya Stephanny Hikmah (Panitera Substitor to Case No. 103/PUUU-X/2022).