Bribery Case of Central Jakarta District Court Judge and Zarof Ricar, Proof that Judicial Mafia is Not a Fiction

The alleged bribery or gratification case of four judges related to the handling of cases at the Central Jakarta District Court has similarities with the bribery case of judges at the Surabaya District Court, namely the practice of buying and selling cases controlled by a judicial mafia network. Interestingly, the two cases also overlap.

The Attorney General's Office said that the alleged bribery or gratification case that ensnared four judges was triggered by suspicions of a similar pattern in the acquittal of Gregorius Ronald Tannur in the case of the assault of Dini Sera Afrianti to death. Not only that, the Attorney General's Office also confirmed that there was a connection in the two cases.

Head of the Attorney General's Office's Legal Information Center, Harli Siregar, confirmed to reporters on Saturday (12/4/2025) that this case was a development of the case involving former Supreme Court (MA) official Zarof Ricar.

"So, after the onslag decision, investigators, of course, suspected that there were bad indications, there were suspicions of impurity in the onslag (decision). When handling the case in Surabaya, there was also information about that, about the name MS (Marcella Santoso) from electronic evidence," said Harli.

In the alleged corruption case of crude palm oil (CPO) export facilities with three corporate defendants, the panel of judges at the Jakarta Corruption Court issued an acquittal. The three judges were Djuyamto, Agam Syarif Baharuddin, and Ali Muhtarom. Meanwhile, Marcella Santoso is one of the suspects as the attorney for the corporate defendant.

Then, the Attorney General's Office named the three judges along with the Chief Justice of the South Jakarta District Court Muhammad Arif Nuryanta and a clerk, Wahyu Gunawan, as suspects in receiving bribes or gratuities. They are suspected of receiving Rp 60 billion.

In the case of Ronald Tannur, judges Erintuah Damanik, Heru Hanindyo, and Mangapul acquitted the defendant Ronald Tannur. They were then arrested by the Attorney General's Office on suspicion of bribery or gratification. At trial, they were charged with receiving 48,000 Singapore dollars and 140,000 Singapore dollars which were then divided up.

Not only that, the AGO also named former Surabaya District Court Chief Rudi Suparmono as a suspect for allegedly receiving 20,000 Singapore dollars from Erintuah Damanik. The AGO also named former MA official, Zarof Ricar, as a suspect for allegedly being a liaison between the legal team and the MA.

Surprisingly in the case, in Zarof's house, money worth around Rp 920 billion and 51 kilograms of gold were found. Although the Attorney General's Office has said that the money and gold worth Rp 1 trillion came from handling various cases, until now the origin of the money has not been revealed.

Researcher at the Center for Anti-Corruption Studies at Gadjah Mada University (Pukat UGM), Zaenur Rohman, when contacted on Tuesday (15/4/2025), was of the view that the link between Zarof Ricar and the bribery case at the Central Jakarta District Court through digital traces as revealed by the Attorney General's Office was an indication that implied something bigger. The two cases were the tip of the iceberg of similar incidents that had not been revealed so far.

A very strong legal mafia network is rooted in the Supreme Court and there may still be other legal mafia networks. It is the prosecutor's job to complete the ZR (Zarof Ricar) network and other legal mafias.

In fact, the case of the discovery of money and gold in Zarof Ricar's house has shown the handling of cases that occur repeatedly. The discovery of money and gold shows the existence of related parties, at least the giver, the case that was secured, and the judge who could be bought. However, until now the case has not been revealed.

"A very strong legal mafia network is rooted in the Supreme Court and there may still be other legal mafia networks. It is the prosecutor's job to complete the ZR (Zarof Ricar) network and other legal mafias," said Zaenur.

The case, said Zaenur, also shows that the law in Indonesia can still be bought. The law is still far from being fair, certain, and beneficial because the law is very easy to intervene. In this context, the most threatening intervention is not the intervention of power, but rather material intervention.

This continues to happen because it is rooted in the culture of buying and selling cases that has taken root in the judicial institutions in Indonesia. Meanwhile, such great authority is not balanced with adequate accountability and supervision.

"The supervision has not been able to reach evil practices or abuse of authority by judges. So, supervision relies on the MA Supervisory Body which has limitations. Ideally, supervision is carried out at all levels," said Zaenur.

On the other hand, external supervision is also very weak because it is practically only carried out by the Judicial Commission (KY) which only focuses on ethical issues. KY cannot supervise decisions made by judges because they are considered judicial products.

"The supervision is very loose, the culture is very corrupt, and the risk of being exposed is very low. From the organizational side, many have been damaged, protecting each other, covering each other up," said Zaenur.

Therefore, according to Zaenur, the culture of buying and selling decisions must be eliminated, accompanied by improvements to the judicial oversight mechanism. While this is being done, parties or people who report irregularities must be given incentives and protection.

From the system side, the state must create a roadmap for legal reform that includes reform of institutions and law enforcement officers. This must be led by the president as head of state. In order for KY supervision to be better, the Law on KY must be revised.

"I don't believe the Supreme Court can cure the disease in its own body. This requires assistance in the form of a legal reform program by the state through the leadership of President Prabowo. But, unfortunately, until now that has not been a program," said Zaenur.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) Sugeng Teguh Santoso viewed that although the Attorney General's Office saw the same criminal act between the acquittal of Ronald Tannur at the Surabaya District Court and the corruption case of granting CPO export facilities, the legal process for the two cases was considered different.

According to Sugeng, the legal process carried out by the AGO in the case related to Zarof Ricar was not as firm as when handling the bribery or gratification case at the Central Jakarta District Court recently. This was evident from the failure to reveal the source of the Rp 920 billion funds and 51 kilograms of gold found in Zarof Ricar's house.

If we look at corruption cases that occur in the United States, Sugeng said, usually there is a party or figure who acts as a gatekeeper. In the case of bribery of the judge in the acquittal of Ronald Tannur, Zarof Ricar was seen as acting as the party who kept the money that would be used to secure the case.

"The Rp 920 billion confiscated by the AGO was money used to secure other judges who were going to stand trial. This refers to the charges filed by the prosecutor against Zarof, namely related to gratification, not bribery," said Sugeng.

Nevertheless, Sugeng appreciates the performance of the Attorney General's Office which dares to uncover corruption cases involving rogue judges. It is believed that this will increase public trust in law and justice.

As of Tuesday, investigators were still focused on examining witnesses and investigating the roles of suspects in the alleged bribery or gratification case of handling crude palm oil or CPO export cases at the Central Jakarta District Court. Investigators are also tracing several pieces of evidence in the form of documents that have been previously confiscated.

In addition, investigators are investigating the origin of the Rp 60 billion given by suspect Aryanto to Arif Nuryanta through Wahyu Gunawan. The money was then distributed by Arif Nuryanta to three judges for a total of Rp 22 billion. Thus, there is still a remainder of around Rp 38 billion.

"That's what is being investigated. Indeed, logically speaking, is this purely from AR (Aryanto) or from another party. That's what investigators will continue to investigate," said Harli.