Dudu Duswara Machmudin (c. 1951 – 10 December 2020) was an Indonesian judge, lawyer, and academic.

Biography

He served as a justice of the

Supreme Court of Indonesia The Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia ( id, Mahkamah Agung Republik Indonesia) is the independent judicial arm of the state. It maintains a system of courts and sits above the other courts and is the final court of appeal. It can also ...

from 2011 until his death from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

on 10 December 2020, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia The COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). It was confirmed to have spread to Indonesia on 2 March 2020, after ...

. In January 2020, he became a

law professor A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

at Langlangbuana University. He also held lectures on the role of the Supreme Court in appeals cases within the Indonesian justice system. Duswara received his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from Langlangbuana University in

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

. He then completed both his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and doctorate at

Padjadjaran University Padjadjaran University id, Universitas Padjajaran, abbreviated as UNPAD) is a public university located in Sumedang Regency and Bandung, which is the provincial capital of West Java, Indonesia. It was established on September 11, 1957. UNPAD has ...

. Prior to joining the Supreme Court in 2011, Duswara oversaw corruption trials in the

Central Jakarta Central Jakarta ( id, Jakarta Pusat) is one of the five administrative cities () which form the Special Capital Region of Jakarta. It had 902,973 inhabitants according to the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 1,056,896 at the 2 ...

District Court. In 2014, Justice Duswara made national headlines when he sentenced Herman Jumat Masan, a former

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

from

Maumere Maumere is the administrative seat of the Sikka Regency and the second-largest town (after Ende) on Flores Island, Indonesia. It lies on the north coast of the island and the port is in the north-west part of the town. Administratively the town ...

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and th ...

East Nusa Tenggara East Nusa Tenggara ( id, Nusa Tenggara Timur – NTT; pt, Sonda Oriental) is the southernmost province of Indonesia. It comprises the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, facing the Indian Ocean in the south and the Flores Sea in the nor ...

, to death for the murder of his girlfriend and both of their children. Duswara's ruling overturned Jumat Masan's earlier sentences of

life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

, which had been handed down by the Maumere District Court and the

Kupang Kupang ( id, Kota Kupang, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 C ensus, it had a population of 442,758; the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 455,850. It is the largest ci ...

High Courts in East Nusa Tenggara. Duswara died from

during the

at Sentosa Asih Hospital in

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

, on December 10, 2020, at the age of 69.

References

1950s births 2020 deaths Year of birth uncertain Justices of the Supreme Court of Indonesia Padjadjaran University alumni Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia {{Indonesia-law-bio-stub