Timber tycoon 'Bob' Hasan sent to jail<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Timber tycoon Mohamad \"Bob\" Hasan was sent to
\nSalemba Penitentiary in Central Jakarta on Tuesday following a
\nJakarta High Court decision to lift his house arrest.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Arnold Angkaw said Hasan began serving his jail
\nterm at 11 a.m.<\/p>\n
In the prison, Hasan shares a two-meter by 2.5-meter room with
\nEast Timorese prointegration fighter Eurico Guterres, who is
\nbeing tried here for illegal gun possession, and one other
\nprisoner, detik.com reported.<\/p>\n
Toga Effendi, an employee at the prison, said the facility,
\nwhich has a capacity of 753 people, held 1,856 detainees.<\/p>\n
Hasan was sent to jail based on the high court's decision
\ndated Feb. 10, signed by the court chief, I Gede Sidharta. The
\nhigh court lifted the house arrest in response to the
\nprosecutor's appeal against the Central Jakarta District Court's
\ncontroversial verdict on Hasan.<\/p>\n
On Feb. 2, a three-member panel of judges, presided over by
\nSubardi, sentenced Hasan to two years under house arrest -- a
\ndecision that sparked controversy and drew strong criticism from
\nthe public.<\/p>\n
The judges found Hasan, former chairman of the Indonesian
\nForest Concessionaires Association, guilty of misusing US$75
\nmillion in forestry funds belonging to the Ministry of Forestry.<\/p>\n
But the defendant was exonerated from charges of fraudulent
\nuse of US$168 million funds for aerial mapping conducted by the
\ndefendant's company, PT Mapindo Parama, between 1989 and 1999.
\nAccording to the judges, it was a civil case between the company
\nand the association.<\/p>\n
The judges also fined Hasan Rp 15 million and told him to
\nreturn Rp 14.1 billion to the state.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors had earlier sought an eight-year prison term for
\nHasan, along with a Rp 30 million fine and an obligation to repay
\nUS$243.7 million in state losses.<\/p>\n
Hasan, 70, the minister of industry and trade in 1997, is the
\nfirst of former president Soeharto's cronies to be tried for
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
In handing down the verdict, the Central Jakarta District
\nCourt took into consideration as a mitigating element the fact
\nthat Hasan had dedicated himself to national sports.<\/p>\n
Hasan is chairman of the Indonesian Track and Field
\nAssociation and a member of the International Olympics Committee.
\nThe National Sports Council is still waiting for an official
\nletter from the organization regarding the fate of his membership
\nafter being convicted of corruption.<\/p>\n
The Attorney General's Office is also investigating Hasan's
\nalleged involvement in another corruption case.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors suspect that Hasan, a former chief patron of the
\nAssociation of Indonesian Wood Panel Producers, and Asmaning
\nTjipto Wignjoprajitno, its former chairman, had misappropriated
\nsome $84 million. The money, allocated for export promotions,
\ncame from the monthly dues of the association's members. (sim)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/timber-tycoon-bob-hasan-sent-to-jail-1447893297",
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