Prosecutors talk tough on graft, still no action<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
State prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for the former
\ncommissioner and president of the now-defunct BHS Bank, Hendra
\nRahardja, in a corruption case that cost the state more than Rp
\n2.6 trillion (about US$260 million) in losses.<\/p>\n
They also urged the Central Jakarta District Court to sentence
\nformer BHS Bank commissioner Eko Edi Putranto and former director
\nSherny Konjongian to 20 years in jail each.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Andi Rahman Asbar, who read the sentence demand,
\nalso asked the court to order the three defendants to pay
\ncompensation of Rp 1.95 trillion (about $195 million) to the
\nstate.<\/p>\n
The three defendants were charged with Anticorruption Law No.
\n3\/1971, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail.<\/p>\n
The sentence recommendations were obviously beyond
\nexpectations because, never before has a prosecutor sought the
\nmaximum penalty, let alone a life sentence for a defendant in a
\ncorruption case.<\/p>\n
Despite the hearing, all three defendants are still on the
\nlam.<\/p>\n
Lawyers Alamsyah Hanafiah and OC Kaligis earlier insisted that
\nthey wanted to prepare a defense, but the court rejected the
\nrequest as the defendants are still at large. On Monday, however,
\nthe lawyers were allowed to present their legal opinion.<\/p>\n
Bank BHS received Bank Indonesia Liquidity Credit from 1993 to
\n1997, and the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support, from 1997 to
\n1999. Most of the money, however, was misappropriated.<\/p>\n
Bank Indonesia had disbursed BLBI funds amounting to Rp 144.5
\ntrillion to 48 banks to help them during the economic crisis, but
\nthe Supreme Audit Agency revealed in 1999 that 95 percent of the
\nfunds were misused.<\/p>\n
Only 12 people have been prosecuted in the BLBI debacle.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the West Jakarta District Court sentenced David
\nNusa Wijaya of Bank Umum Servitia to one year in jail for
\ncorruption and ordered him to pay back the Rp 1.27 billion he had
\nmisused. The prosecutor earlier asked the court to sentence David
\nto four years in jail.<\/p>\n
Last year, the Central Jakarta District Court sentenced
\nHendrawan Harjono of Bank Aspac to one year for violating bank
\nlaws, and fined him Rp 500 million. He was acquitted of
\ncorruption charges. The prosecutor had earlier asked the court to
\nsentence Hendrawan to five years imprisonment for corruption.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/prosecutors-talk-tough-on-graft-still-no-action-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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