BUN director acquitted<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
In another blow to the country's sluggish drive against
\ncorruption, the Jakarta High Court overturned the prison term
\nimposed on former director of the now-defunct Bank Umum National
\n(BUN) by a lower court, in the Rp 6.7 trillion (US$788.2 million)
\nBank Indonesia Liquidity Support fund (BLBI) misuse.<\/p>\n
The appeals court also acquitted Leonard Tanubrata of all
\ncorruption charges.<\/p>\n
The panel of three judges -- Saman Hadi, Hasan Basri Passe and
\nHartati -- argued the case against Leonard was civil rather than
\ncriminal.<\/p>\n
Therefore, the defendant must be exonerated, according to the
\nverdict issued on Oct. 26.<\/p>\n
Leonard was earlier sentenced by the Central Jakarta District
\nCourt to 10 years in prison for his role in the BLBI misuse
\nduring the November 1997 to April 1999 period, when he served as
\nthe BUN president director. He remains free after his appeal.<\/p>\n
"Prosecutors (who handled Leonard's case) must appeal against
\nthe verdict to the Supreme Court. It's a must," Attorney
\nGeneral's Office spokesman Kemas Yahya Rahman said on Wednesday
\nin a response to the High Court's decision.<\/p>\n
He said his office had ordered all prosecutors to immediately
\nfile appeals against verdicts in corruption cases, where
\ndefendants were acquitted by higher courts.<\/p>\n
The BUN corruption case had been in the spotlight due to
\napparent inconsistencies during its prosecution. The case was
\nalso marred by the request of prosecutors for the Supreme Court
\nto replace Judge Amiruddin Zakaria, who presided over the trial,
\nfor alleged foul play.<\/p>\n
However, the most controversial issue surfaced when the
\ndistrict court delivered the verdicts for both Leonard and co-
\ndefendant Kaharudin Ongko, the BUN's commissioner.<\/p>\n
While Leonard was convicted, the court ruled that Ongko was
\nnot guilty of graft or of amassing wealth as charged earlier by
\nprosecutors.<\/p>\n
The court argued that as a commissioner, Ongko was not
\nresponsible for any decisions taken by the bank's director.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors have appealed Ongko's verdict to the Supreme
\nCourt.<\/p>\n
The prosecutors had earlier sought 16 years in prison for
\nOngko and 14 years for Leonard. They also demanded that the court
\norder the two defendants to repay state losses of Rp 6.7
\ntrillion.<\/p>\n
According to the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), many bank owners
\nhad misused a total of Rp 144.5 trillion (US$16.2 billion) in
\nBLBI funds provided by the government.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, courts here have handed down seemingly unfair
\nsentences in the BLBI cases. Judges acquitted several defendants
\nof all charges, while others received lenient sentences, of only
\nseveral months or a few years in prison, as demanded by
\nprosecutors.<\/p>\n
A court sentenced former banker Hendra Rahardja of the now-
\ndefunct Bank BHS to life imprisonment and two other executives of
\nthe same bank to 20 years in jail. But all the defendants were
\ntried in absentia.<\/p>\n
The lengthy and controversial trials of dozens of BLBI misuse
\ncases has had no significant consequences for the state budget.
\nFor the most part the courts failed to order defendants to repay
\ntheir ill-obtained money to the state.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bun-director-acquitted-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}