NGOs protest release and discharge policy<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) launched a
\ncampaign on Thursday against the much-criticized government
\npolicy of exonerating some former bank owners from their past
\nbanking crimes.<\/p>\n
Led by Teten Masduki of the Indonesian Corruption Watch (ICW),
\na group of NGO officials collected signatures from professionals
\nworking in the Jakarta Stock Exchange building in a bid to drum
\nup public support to pressure the government to drop the
\ncontroversial policy.<\/p>\n
Teten said similar campaigns would be launched in other areas
\nof the country.<\/p>\n
He said that once sufficient public support was drummed up,
\nthe NGOs would file a class action suit against the government if
\nit continued to refuse to reverse its "release and discharge"
\npolicy.<\/p>\n
Teten said exonerating the former bank owners from their
\ncrimes would be a serious blow to justice.<\/p>\n
He added that over the past four years, none of the ex-bank
\nowners had been cooperative in settling their obligations.<\/p>\n
Under the release and discharge policy, ex-bank owners deemed
\ncooperative in settling their debts to the government will have
\nall criminal charges against them dropped.<\/p>\n
The former bank owners owe huge debts to the government after
\ntheir banks received about Rp 144.5 trillion in state funds to
\nhelp them stay afloat during the late-1990s financial crisis.<\/p>\n
The bank owners, however, were found to have misused most of
\nthe state funds. They also stand accused of violating the bank
\nlegal lending limit by channeling most of their banks' money to
\naffiliated businesses. This illegal activity is seen as one of
\nthe causes of the financial crisis.<\/p>\n
Four years ago, the previous government signed debt settlement
\nagreements with some 35 former bank owners, under which they
\nwould have all criminal charges against them dropped if they
\nfully repaid their debts.<\/p>\n
By the time the agreements expired late last year, none of the
\nformer bank owners had fully settled their debts.<\/p>\n
Some of the ex-bank owners surrendered fixed assets to repay
\ntheir debts, but the value of these assets has been greatly
\nreduced due to asset deterioration.<\/p>\n
If the government fails to force the ex-bankers to surrender
\nadditional assets, tax payers will have to shoulder more of the
\ncost of the financial crisis.<\/p>\n
According to reports on Thursday, President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri has issued a presidential directive on the release
\nand discharge status of some ex-bankers. No details were given as
\nto which bankers would be granted the status.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA),
\nwhich is mandated to collect the debts, proposed five ex-bank
\nowners to be categorized as cooperative debtors. Of the five, the
\nmost prominent is Sudono Salim, the founder and former owner of
\nBank BCA and the largest debtor.<\/p>\n
Under the new policy, the debtors would be given until June
\n2003 to repay their debts in full.<\/p>\n
Antara news agency quoted IBRA chairman Syafruddin Temenggung
\nas saying the presidential directive would be made public on Jan.
\n6, 2003.<\/p>\n
In defending the policy, Megawati has said the release and
\ndischarge policy was part of a scheme agreed to with the
\nInternational Monetary Fund, and was in line with guidelines
\nissued by the People's Consultative Assembly.<\/p>\n
She said that after four years of stalemate, a decision must
\nbe immediately taken to resolve the debt problem to prevent it
\nfrom becoming even more complicated.<\/p>\n
The President also warned that uncooperative debtors would
\nface legal sanction.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ngos-protest-release-and-discharge-policy-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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