A security escort leads Gregorius Ronald Tannur (in red vest) to a press briefing held by the Surabaya and East Java prosecutor’s offices on Oct. 27, 2024 in the East Java capital. The son of a former lawmaker was rearrested after the Supreme Court overturned his acquittal and sentenced him to five years in prison in relation to the October 2023 death of his girlfriend, Dini Sera Afriyanti. - Photo: Antara
JAKARTA: The Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has rearrested Gregorius Ronald Tannur after the Supreme Court overturned his acquittal over the murder of his girlfriend Dini Sera Afriyanti, a high-profile case that observers said shed light on corruption in the judiciary.
A joint team from the East Java and Surabaya prosecutor’s offices arrested Ronald on Sunday (Oct 27) at his residence in Surabaya, East Java, and transported him immediately to the Class I Surabaya Penitentiary in Sidoarjo, according to a statement issued the same day.
In a Supreme Court ruling last week, presiding justice Soesilo and justices Sutarjo and Ainal Mardhiah overturned a lower court’s acquittal and found Ronald guilty of aggravated assault, sentencing him to five years in prison.
Ronald, whose father is former lawmaker Edward Tannur of the National Awakening Party (PKB), was tried for the fatal assault of Dini, who was 29 when she died in October 2023.
The couple had allegedly argued before she was pronounced dead at a hospital in Surabaya.
The Surabaya District Court cleared Ronald of all charges in July.
The judges who presided over his trial stated that the prosecution failed to produce convincing evidence to find him guilty of murder, manslaughter and aggravated assault.
His acquittal sparked a public backlash and a subsequent investigation by the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) into the alleged corruption of the three district court judges who handled the trial: Erintuah Damanik, Mangapul and Heru Hanindyo.
Judicial graft
The AGO investigators gathered enough evidence to detain the three Surabaya judges on suspicion of accepting bribes from defence lawyer Lisa Rahmat, who was detained as a suspect in Jakarta, in exchange for acquitting Ronald.
In addition to these four suspects, AGO investigators also arrested Zarof Ricar, a former high-ranking official at the Supreme Court, for allegedly accepting Rp 1 billion (US$63,714) from Lisa to distribute Rp 5 billion each to the three justices hearing the AGO prosecutors’ appeal over Ronald’s acquittal.
According to the AGO, Zarof told investigators that he had informed one Supreme Court justice handling the appellate case about the illicit deal before his arrest prevented him from handing over the bribe money.
Supreme Court justices issued their verdict overruling Ronald’s acquittal one day before the AGO arrested the three Surabaya judges.
Investigators also suspect Zarof of accepting multiple bribes during his tenure as the head of the Supreme Court’s legal and judicial research and training center from 2012 to 2022.
The AGO seized a total of Rp 920 billion in cash and 51 kilograms of gold during a raid on several properties belonging to Zarof.
Ethics probe
In response to the AGO’s bribery probe related to Ronald’s acquittal, the Supreme Court issued a statement on Monday saying it had formed a special team to conduct an ethics investigation into the three justices who handled the appellate case against Ronald.
The court’s supervisory head Dwiarso Budi Santiarto is leading the team of two justices, Noor Edi Yono and Jupriyadi, who are tasked with clearing up Zarof’s statement about his contact with a justice on the appellate case.
Supreme Court spokesperson Yanto said the court would respect the AGO’s bribery investigation and would not attempt to protect any member of the judiciary involved in that case, Tempo.co reported.
Yanto also said the court would proceed with its internal ethics probe into the appellate justices without the involvement of other institutions.
The corruption scandal surrounding Ronald’s acquittal for the murder of Dini has increased the number of judges and court officials implicated in graft cases.
The Supreme Court was hit by several recent cases that found inactive justices Gazalba Saleh and Sudrajad Dimyati and former secretary Hasbi Hasan guilty of accepting bribes in relation to certain cases being heard at the country’s highest court.
Saying that the judicial reform agenda had failed to clean up the justice system, observers have called for a thorough investigation into the alleged judicial corruption and launch legal proceedings against all involved to prevent the already eroding public trust in the judiciary. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
