There go da Judge

Only the man who has enough good in him to feel the justice of the penalty can be punished. ~William Ernest Hocking

You have to love this.....

"The total amount allegedly received by my client was Rp 10 million, and that was the witness' money, not from the state. So, why should my client be fined Rp 200 million?"

"The judge mentioned something about the spirit to eradicate corruption by preventing losses to the state. The problem is, the state suffered nothing."

I was wondering what to write about today and along comes lawyer Firman Wijaya with this statement after the South Jakarta District Court jailed one of its judges for four years and six months for extorting money from a witness in a graft trial. You can read the actual article in the Jakarta Post here

There is so much bizarre about Wijaya's statement as reported it beggars belief..
"The graft was only worth 10 million why should my client have to pay 200 Million??"

I dunno How about abuse of trust and position just for starters?

"The problem is, the state suffered nothing." Mmm, I would have thought the state suffered a loss of public confidence, a loss of the rule of law, a loss of investor confidence, domestic and international embarrassment. I am sure there are a million more (200 million?).

Personally, I don't know what the procedure is in Indonesia but surely Wijay's comments alone are worthy of internal review in their own right.

Reminds me of an old joke "What do you call a 100 Lawyers on the bottom of the ocean" Answer: "A good start"

Most men's anger about religion is as if two men should quarrel for a lady that neither of them care for. ~George Savile, Marquess de Halifax

Still enjoying the Jakarta Post (always good for a laugh), there is a interesting reader's letter complaining about the creeping Christianization of Indonesia including the classic statement:

"There has been aggressive proselytizing by Christian missionaries in hospitals and schools, and there also have been objections to the teaching of other faiths in privately run missionary schools"

I confess, I have a problem with any faith that tries to ram its belief down someone throat (ok, Seventh Day Adventists are cool, because you can tease them so much when they come knocking uninvited to your front door and they dress so dorky). However to complain that privately run missionary schools don't exactly encourage the teaching of other faiths, is a interesting use of the logical thought processes.

Who was the last person who sent their child to "Pesantren" (Islamic boarding School)
for a Christian education.

Of course, our estwhile letter writer quotes some detailed statistics however I would more interested in how you compile any viable census type data in Indonesia. I cannot even find out what the population of Jakarta is, with anything resembling confidence.

What is it about religion that so often removes the ability to apply rational thought? In case you were wondering, "I believe in God; I just don't trust anyone who say they work for him".