Judge Threatens Lawsuits for Those Criticizing Him Over Budi Ruling
Jakarta. South Jakarta District Court Judge Sarpin Rizaldi has had enough of being vilified by the entire nation over his controversial ruling last month, his lawyer said, threatening anyone who openly criticizes him with a lawsuit.
“We are providing an open warning to the whole public, especially government officials, former officials, including legal experts, so that they don’t pass judgement, weigh in or comment in a negative way on the way our client performed his profession,” Sarpin’s lawyer Hotma Sitompul said.
Hotma described Sarpin as a judge who has served in numerous courts in Indonesia with “sound track record” and never has been found guilty of any wrongdoing.
“Such negative comments accounts for slander, defamation and libel towards our client’s good name. We’ll air an ultimatum to whoever has made such negative remarks [against Sarpin] and demand that they openly apologize ... in seven days,” the lawyer said. “Otherwise we will report them to the police.”
Sarpin first drew notoriety when he became the lone judge in a pretrial motion lodged by former National Police chief nominee Budi Gunawan who sought to have his suspect status revoked.
The judge last month ruled that the decision by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) to charge Budi had been technically flawed. He voided the agency’s decision letter to name Budi as a suspect.
Legal experts have since pointed out that the court’s decision to revoke Budi’s suspect status was not a legally recognized move under the Criminal Code Procedures (Kuhap).
According to code, a pretrial motion is only authorized to hear technical aspects of an investigation, such as the processes leading to arrest and seizure of assets, and not weigh on the substance of the criminal charge itself, which can only be determined after the indictment of the suspect.
The unprecedented verdict has inspired many corruption suspects looking to have charges against them dropped even before they are indicted, in what is now widely being called the “Sarpin Effect.”
Sarpin has already reported two lecturers from the Andalas University in Padang, West Sumatra, for defamation for criticizing his verdict in a public discussion.
Hotma said anyone who criticized his client might suffer the same fate unless they apologize.
On Friday, Sarpin’s team of lawyers also filed a complaint against former Supreme Court judge and legal professor Emong Sapardjaja.
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