Asked To Respect Judges, Rizieq Shihab's Lawyer: Not The Authority Of Judicial Commission To Criticize Legal Counsels

Rizieq Shihab's Lawyer, Alamsyah Hanafiah (Rizqona Faqihul Ilma/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Judicial Commission (KY) highlighted Rizieq Shihab's first trial at the East Jakarta District Court. The trial was considered to be noisy. Rizieq Shihab's advisory team was asked to respect the panel of judges. But the request was responded harshly.

Member of the Indonesian Judicial Commission, Binziad Kadafi, said that in court cases related to the results of the UMMI Hospital swab, there were many incidents that caused an uproar. He even considered the commotion to have an impact on disrupting the trial process.

"Based on the analysis conducted by Judicial Commission (KY), there was a commotion in the courtroom for case 225 (HRS), which more or less disturbed the proceedings of the trial process," said Kadafi in a press conference broadcast on the Judicial Commission's YouTube channel, Thursday, March 25.

Although it did not specify the things that caused the commotion. However, Kadafi suspects that it is related to the actions of the lawyers' team that did not respect the reputation of the trial.

One example, when Rizieq Shihab's team of lawyers walked out and shouted in the courtroom. For this reason, Rizieq Shihab's team of lawyers was asked to have more respect for the trial and the panel of judges, so that the trial would run smoothly.

"The Judicial Commission asked the team of legal advisors for the accused Muhammad Rizieq Shihab to respect the judges more and to maintain court order in following every examination process at trial," he said.

On the other hand, said Kadafi, the panel of judges at the trial was also asked to optimize their authority. This is in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code, Supreme Court Regulation Number 4 of 2020, and Supreme Court Regulation Number 5 of 2020.

"However, the panel of judges still has full control of the trial and can enforce trial order," he said.

Responding to this criticism, Rizieq Shihab's lawyer, Aziz Yanuar, said the Judicial Commission had a wrong address. The reason is, it is not the authority of the Judicial Commission (KY) to criticize the legal team.

"I think it is the wrong address. Why? Because the Judicial Commission is in charge of judges 'matters. Judges' code of ethics," said Aziz Yanuar.

In addition, Aziz also said that it would be better for Judicial Commission (KY) to focus on the problems experienced by the judges. In fact, it is advisable to continue to carry out tasks in accordance with their authority.

"So when there are matters that raise issues about the defendant's legal advisor, it is not the duty (of Judicial Commission), are we told to be judges, of course not, right?" Yanuar criticized.