Lawyer Walks Out as Embattled Professor Defends Prabowo’s Election Win
Jakarta. A lawyer representing defeated presidential candidate Anies Baswedan walked out of the court on Thursday when embattled law professor Edward Hiariej testified in the hearing on the presidential election dispute.
Edward was presented by president-elect Prabowo Subianto to deliver counterarguments at the Constitutional Court. He recently resigned from his position as the vice justice minister after being named a corruption suspect. However, he was later cleared of all charges in a pre-trial motion.
Renowned lawyer Bambang Widjojanto questioned Edward’s credibility as a legal expert in the hearing and decided to leave the courtroom when justices allowed the professor to speak.
"Your Honor, I have expressed my objection, and please allow me to leave as my colleague, Professor Hiariej, is invited to deliver his arguments. I will rejoin the hearing for other witnesses, thank you," Bambang told the panel before exiting.
Chief Justice Suhartoyo, who presided over the hearing, permitted Bambang’s walk-out.
As Edward protested his decision, the chief justice responded: “He is entitled to the right to skip the hearing.”
Edward argued that he needed Bambang to remain in the courtroom to defend himself.
"I also have the right to counter this character assassination against me by Bambang, who questioned my presence here,” Edward said. “I only need 30 seconds to clarify what Bambang has said against me."
Edward then hit back at Bambang, a former commissioner of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), for his legal troubles in the past.
Bambang was once named a criminal suspect by police for allegedly tampering with witnesses when he was an attorney in a regional election dispute. The charges against Bambang were dropped after the Attorney General’s Office decided not to prosecute the then-KPK commissioner.
“I’m different from Bambang Widjojanto, who didn’t challenge his designation as a criminal suspect. Instead, he begged for mercy from the attorney general," Edward said.
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