Baharuddin Lopa (27 August 1935 – 3 July 2001) was an Indonesian Minister of Justice and Human Rights and later Attorney General of Indonesia. He was the student of Dr. Ernst Utrecht.

Life and career

Baharuddin Lopa was born in

Polewali Mandar Polewali Mandar is one of the five regencies in West Sulawesi province of Indonesia. It borders on the regencies of Mamasa in the North, Majene in the West and Pinrang regency of South Sulawesi in the East. It covers an area of 2,074.76 km2 an ...

West Sulawesi West Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Barat) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the western side of Sulawesi island. It covers an area of 16,787.18 km2, and its capital is Mamuju. The 2010 Census recorded a population of 1,158,651, while ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

on 27 August 1935. He attended

Hasanuddin University Hasanuddin University ( id, Universitas Hasanuddin) which is abbreviated as Unhas, is one of the largest autonomous universities in Indonesia. It is located in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Unhas was established on September 10, 1956, and ...

, majored in law, and graduated in 1962. Lopa then had a lengthy career as an attorney, including services as a district attorney at the State District Attorney Office in

Ujung Pandang Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, M ...

(1958–1960) and head of the State District Attorney Office in Ternate (1964–1966). From 1966 to 1976, Lopa led several High District Attorney Offices, first in

Southeast Sulawesi Southeast Sulawesi ( id, Sulawesi Tenggara) is a province on the island of Sulawesi, forming the southeastern peninsula of that island, together with a number of substantial offshore islands such as Buton, Muna, Kabaena and Wawonii (formerly ...

(1966–1970), then Aceh (1970–1974), and of Justice and Human Rights and later in

West Kalimantan West Kalimantan ( id, Kalimantan Barat) is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five Indonesian provinces comprising Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city is Pontianak. The province has an area of 147,307&nbs ...

(1974–1976). In 1982, Lopa was appointed head of the High District Attorney Office in South Sulawesi. At the same time, he obtained a doctoral degree in law from the Faculty of Law,

Diponegoro University Diponegoro University ( jv, ꦈꦤꦶꦥ꦳ꦼꦂꦱꦶꦠꦱ꧀ꦢꦶꦥꦤꦼꦒꦫ; id, Universitas Diponegoro, abbreviated as Undip) is a public university in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia. Founded in 1957 as a private university by th ...

. Between 1993 and 1998, Lopa was a member of Indonesia's National Commission on Human Rights (''Komnas HAM''), where he served as secretary general. During his career as an attorney, Lopa was famous for his tough stance against corruption. On 12 February 2001, Lopa was appointed Minister of Justice and Human Rights by then President

Abdurrahman Wahid Abdurrahman Wahid ( ; born Abdurrahman ad-Dakhil; 7 September 1940 – 30 December 2009), though more colloquially known as Gus Dur (), was an Indonesian politician and Islamic religious leader who served as the 4th president of Indonesia, fr ...

, replacing

Yusril Ihza Mahendra Yusril Ihza Mahendra (born 5 February 1956) is an Indonesian lawyer, politician and academic, who is currently serving as the leader of the Crescent Star Party (PBB) since 2015. Previously, he served as the leader of the PBB from 1998 until 200 ...

. On 6 June 2001, while still serving as Justice Minister, Lopa was appointed

Attorney General of Indonesia The Office of the Attorney General of the Republic of Indonesia ( Indonesian: ''Kejaksaan Agung Republik Indonesia'') is the competent authority to advise the Government of Indonesia on matters of law. It serves as the central organization for the ...

, replacing

Marzuki Darusman Marzuki Darusman (born 26 January 1945) is an Indonesian lawyer and human rights campaigner. After fifteen years as a member of the People's Representative Council with President Suharto's Golkar party, he served the country's prosecutor gene ...

. He promised to prosecute powerful politicians and tycoons suspected of corruption. He also pledged to bring former president Suharto to trial for misuse of funds. Within less than one month, on 30 June 2001, Lopa fell ill during a flight to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. He died on 3 July 2001 at the age of 66 in a hospital in

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of th ...

. The cause of death was listed as heart failure. The Indonesian government refused to request an autopsy, despite speculation that Lopa might have been murdered.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopa, Baharuddin 1935 births 2001 deaths Attorneys General of Indonesia Government ministers of Indonesia Diponegoro University alumni Hasanuddin University alumni