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Name:
Lalu Mariyun
Place & Date of Birth:
Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, June 15, 1945
Education:
- Junior High School in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara
- Judge and Prosecutor School (SHD) in Malang, East Java
- Law Faculty of Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta
Carrier History:
- -Junior Judge Candidate of the Selong District Court, East Lombok (`1967)
- Selong District Court Judge (1974)
- Banyuwangi District Court Judge (East Java)
- Mataram District Court Judge
- Praya District Court Assitant Judge, Central Lombok
- Mataram District Court Chief Justice
- South Jakarta District Court Chief Justice (2000)
Office Address:
South Jakarta District Court
Ampera Raya Street, South Jakarta

Lalu Mariyun:
"Taking Bribes? That's an Easy Accusation"

Not long after Lalu Mariyun, the Chief Justice presiding over Soeharto's corruption, collusion and nepotism trial, dismissed the prosecution case against the former president, Gus Dur quickly condemned the verdict from Caracas, Venezuela. The president urged the Supreme Court Chief Justice to appoint clean and strict justices to settle the Soeharto case.

Stung by the bribe accusation, Mariyun immediately responded. "I reject the statement by President Abdurrahman Wahid that the presiding judges in the trial of former president Soeharto trial can be bought. The risk is too great if I carelessly take bribes," Mariyun told Antara in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, on Friday afternoon, September 29.

He gave the same response in a telephone interview with TEMPO Interaktif's correspondent in Mataram, Moehammad S. Khafid. "I went to Jakarta to do good work. I haven't been bought by anyone! That's preposterous. It's easy to make accusations," he said emotionally.

Mariyun has strong arguments in support of the ruling. According to the judge, the prosecutors never succeeded in bringing Soeharto to any of the three trial hearings. Mariyun based the ruling on the Republic of Indonesia Supreme Court Letter No. MA/Pemb-0068-8/January 22, 1981, signed by former Supreme Court Justice, Prof. Dr. Oemar Seno Adji. According to the third point of the judicial letter on trial attendance, should the defendant not attend the trial and no guarantee exists that the defendant could ever attend the trial, the case must be dismissed.

The deteriorating health condition of the former New Order leader also concerned Mariyun. A team of 24 doctors found the defendant suffering from permanent mental and physical ailments. "If we can't trust the medical team opinion, who can we trust? This medical team worked independently and in accordance with their medical oath," he said.

Therefore, Mariyun added, the ruling was based purely on legal grounds. The case was never included on the case list, the charges were never read, and the defendant could not attend trial. Mariyun also rejected a trial in absentia. Such a proceeding can only occur if the defendant's whereabouts are unknown. Soeharto remains a prominent resident of Jakarta. "Therefore, a trial in absentia is impossible. This is legal procedure," he explained.

Meanwhile, some critics of Mariyun also accused the prosecution team of failure in the Soeharto corruption case. The Chairman of the Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin) Organizing Committee, Soejono SH, called the prosecutor's indictment very weak. He cited the prosecution's focus on Soeharto's role as the foundation chairman, not as head of state or government.

As quoted by Republika, Soejono offered examples of Soeharto's abuse of government. The former president issued Government Regulation No. 16/1976 requiring banks to allocate 5% of their net profit to the Supersemar Foundation. Soeharto also issued Presidential Decisions No. 90/1995 and No. 92/1996 requiring the distribution of two percent of all personal taxes to the Dharmais Foundation.

Thirdly, Soejono wonders why the indictment focused exclusively on foundation income and not the funding sources and expense accounts. Soejono expressed astonishment at the prosecutor's statement that inappropriate foundation expenses broke rules and caused losses to the state. Were foundation funds connected to the state budget? After reading the prosecution's indictment, Soejono had doubts that Soeharto would ever be tried. The indictment, from his point of view, was doomed from the beginning.

However, Soejono also suspects the Attorney General intentionally weakened the prosecution's case. "Therefore, don't only blame the justices for the case dismissal. The Attorney General made mistakes."

Dreaming of Becoming a Judge

When he began his judicial carrier in 1967, Lalu Mariyun, S.H., probably never imagined that he would participate in the trial of former president Soeharto. In those days Soeharto was a 'hero' who successfully destroyed the communists. Soeharto, the strongest person during the New Order, was "untouchable."

With the passage of time, the world changed. The court of public opinion "convicted" Soeharto, while legal institutions pursued him for his past mistakes. The community placed its high hopes for a fair trial of the former president in the hands of Mariyun, the presiding Chief Justice in the case.

Now the Attorney General's Office must rewrite a proper, complete, and logical indictment, and resubmit a case to the court. Without enough attention to this indictment, the prosecution case may founder a second time.

Mariyun was born 55 years ago in the village of Kopang on Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara. He had a childhood dream of following in the steps of his grandfather and becoming a judge. His dream took the young Mariyun to the Judge and Prosecutor School in Malang, East Java, after graduating from junior high school. After graduating from the school, he registered to be a judge and was assigned to the Selong District Court in Central Lombok as a junior judge.

Unsatisfied with his legal education, Mariyun entered the Law Faculty of Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta in 1969. After obtaining his bachelor degree in 1974, he was reassigned as a judge at the Banyuwangi District Court in East Java. Afterwards he returned to Mataram to become a local district court judge.

In a short time, Mariyun, the husband of Ratna Rumingsih and lecturer at the Law Faculty of Mataram University, was appointed as a Praya District Court Deputy Chief Justice in Central Lombok. He was later reassigned to the Mataram District Court as the Chief Justice. The Minister of Law and Legislation Decision No. M. 1036. KP. 0404/2000 (May 16, 2000) formalized the appointment of Mariyun as Chief Justice of the South Jakarta District Court.

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