"We will try to propose to the House that the commission does not need to cooperate with other law enforcement agencies and allow it to have wiretapping authority independently," Head of Judge Supervision and Investigation of the Judicial Commission Joko Sasmito stated here on Wednesday.
With this independent authority, Sasmito said the commission could be more flexible in supervising judges suspected of committing corruption and other criminal offences.
He explained that the commission's wiretapping authority is currently still linked to the police, the Attorney General's Office, and the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK).
This means the commission still needs to cooperate with the three institutions when conducting wiretapping.
If the commission's independent wiretapping authority is approved by the House, it will allow the commission to wiretap all judges in Indonesia, he remarked.
However, despite it having independent wiretapping authority, Sasmito emphasized that the commission will only conduct wiretapping on judges, who allegedly have indications or findings of involvement in corruption cases or extramarital affairs.
In the meantime, Deputy Chairman of the Judicial Commission M. Taufiq H. Z. also said that basically the supervision of supreme court justices with first-level judges or appellate-level judges is the same.
He gave an example of the investigation conducted by the Judicial Commission on judicial judges at the Supreme Court some time ago.
"In two or three days, I will conduct an investigation of the Chief Justice SD. It means there is no difference," he remarked.
He remarked that the Judicial Commission is also committed to continuing to strengthen the authority of this institution.
Nonetheless, Taufiq expressed optimism that at least the authority of the commission would be returned to what it was before the amendment to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia by the Constitutional Court.
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Translator: Muhammad Zulfikar, Katriana
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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