Jakarta. The Supreme Court announced on Monday the formation of a special task force to evaluate the performance of judges across Jakarta, following the arrest of four judges -- including the chief of the South Jakarta District Court -- over alleged corruption.

According to court spokesperson Yanto, the Supreme Court’s oversight body will lead the initiative to conduct a comprehensive review of judicial conduct.

In addition, the court plans to roll out an electronic application to implement a “robotic selection” system for assigning judges to district court cases. This move aims to eliminate opportunities for pre-trial arrangements between defendants and judicial panels.

“The application is expected to minimize the potential for fraud during court proceedings,” Yanto said.

The initiative comes after the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) revealed that South Jakarta District Court Chief Muhammad Arif Nuryanta and three other judges were arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes from defense attorneys representing three companies accused of illegally exporting crude palm oil (CPO).

The judges allegedly received billions of rupiah in exchange for issuing an acquittal. The corporate defendants -- Wilmar Group, Permata Hijau Group, and Musim Mas Group -- were accused of violating a 2022 CPO export ban imposed during a domestic cooking oil shortage.

A senior prosecutor said Judge Arif, who allegedly coordinated the scheme but did not sit on the judicial panel, demanded Rp 60 billion -- triple the defense’s initial offer.

The three judges who presided over the trial -- Agam Syarif Baharuddin, Ali Muhtarom, and Djuyamto -- have been named as suspects, along with Judge Arif, a court clerk, and two defense attorneys.

Abdul Qohar, Director of Corruption Investigation at the AGO, said the judges had received payments in foreign currency on multiple occasions.

The case drew attention after the Jakarta Anti-Corruption Court, presided over by Judge Djuyamto, issued a controversial verdict on March 19. The court acknowledged that the companies had exported CPO without government authorization but ruled that the violations did not constitute a criminal offense, resulting in acquittal. The court also ordered the restoration of the companies’ reputations.

Before the verdict, prosecutors had sought steep fines: Rp 11.8 trillion ($702.7 million) from Wilmar Group, Rp 4.8 trillion ($285.8 million) from Musim Mas Group, and Rp 937 billion ($55.8 million) from Permata Hijau Group.

AGO spokesperson Harli Siregar confirmed that prosecutors have seized Rp 1.4 trillion ($83 million) in cash and dozens of luxury vehicles from the companies. The assets are now secured in a government account.

The companies were accused of breaching the temporary CPO export ban issued by then-President Joko Widodo in 2022. Prosecutors allege that the illegal exports cost the state Rp 18.3 trillion, as the government was forced to subsidize domestic cooking oil prices to manage the crisis.

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