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 () 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 re-examine cases if new evidence emerg ...

from 2011 until his death from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on 10 December 2020, during the

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

. In January 2020, he became a

law professor A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a legal practition ...

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

from Langlangbuana University in

Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...

. He then completed both his

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate 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 prac ...

and doctorate at

Padjadjaran University Padjadjaran University (; ), 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 11 September 1957. UNPAD has gained the most appl ...

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

Central Jakarta Central Jakarta (, ), abbreviated as Jakpus, is one of the five Cities of Indonesia, administrative cities () and ''de facto'' Capital City of the Jakarta, Special Capital Region of Jakarta. It had 902,973 inhabitants according to the 2010 census ...

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

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

from

Maumere Maumere is the administrative seat of the Sikka Regency and the second largest town (its nominal population has recently overtaken Ende, but of these over 10,500 live in rural areas on outlying islands) on Flores Island, Indonesia. It lies on th ...

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Administratively, it forms the largest island in the East Nusa Tenggara Province. The area is 14,250 km2. Including Komodo and Rinca islands ...

East Nusa Tenggara East Nusa Tenggara (; ) 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 north, with a total land area of 47,238.07 km2. It cons ...

, 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 under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are co ...

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

Kupang Kupang (, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 Indonesian census, 2020 Census, it had a population of 442,758;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as o ...

High Courts in East Nusa Tenggara. Duswara died from

during the

at Sentosa Asih Hospital in

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

, 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