All set for second Bapindo courtroom battle

By Imanuddin

JAKARTA (JP): The stage is set for the trial of the second suspect in the Rp 1.3 trillion (US$620 million) loan scandal at the government-owned Bank Pembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo).

Maman Suparman, formerly deputy manager of Bapindo's Jakarta branch, is scheduled to appear at the South Jakarta District Court today for arraignment, also on corruption charges.

Like the case of businessman Eddy Tansil, the first and main suspect who is being tried in Central Jakarta District Court, Maman's trial promises to be another stiff courtroom battle involving judges, public prosecutors and lawyers who are at the top of their respective professions.

Maman, 48, was born in Cianjur, West Java. He graduated from the School of Economics at the University of Indonesia in 1973 and joined Bapindo the following year.

Preliminary investigations suggest that he played a prominent role in allowing Tansil to disburse huge loans from the bank, disregarding standard procedures.

During the course of the official investigation, he dragged four Bapindo directors along with him amid suggestions that he was acting with their consent.

Allegations have since surfaced that the four other middle level Bapindo managers may have been involved.

The four former Bapindo directors currently under investigation are Subekti Ismaun, Towil Heryoto, Syahrizal and Bambang Kuntjoro.

It is not known whether Maman cut a deal during the investigation to implicate other suspects.

The following is a brief synopsis of some of the major players in the upcoming courtroom battle:

Soedjatman: the presiding judge

Soedjatman is the chief of the South Jakarta District Court.

The 59-year old who hails from Blora, Central Java, has clocked 35 years working as a judge.

His court career dates back to 1959 in Pati (Central Java), before moving to Rembang (Central Java) in 1970, Kudus (Central Java) in 1979 and then on to Denpasar (Bali) in 1984 when he was made chief of the district court. Two years later he became chief of the court in Palembang (South Sumatra) and in 1991 he took over the South Jakarta District Court.

He studied law at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta and obtained his master's degree at Diponegoro University in Semarang, Central Java in 1967.

His most celebrated cases involve foreigners and drug charges during his stint in Bali. He also handled a major timber smuggling case in Palembang.

Soedjatman will be assisted by judges Pieter S. Purba and Stefanus Soetrisno during the trial.

Denny Kailimang: Suparman's lawyer

Denny, 46, is one of the country's best known criminal and civil lawyers because of the nature of cases he has handled. His resume includes defending Moslem preachers Andi Mappetahang Fatwa and Abdul Qadir Djaelani who were charged with subversion in the 1980s, and defending businessmen against corruption charges in reforestation cases in Lampung and South Kalimantan.

He also represented the children of Haji Achmad Thaher in their fight against the government in a Singapore court for the huge estate of their father.

Denny, the senior partner at the Rudy A. Lontoh, Denny Kailimang and associates law firm, began his legal career in 1978.

Hailing from Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, he completed his studies at the Faculty of Law of the Parahyangan Catholic University in 1975. He worked for several companies before finally deciding to make the law his career.

He is the secretary of the Jakarta Lawyers Club, secretary general of the Indonesian Lawyers Association, a member of the ASEAN Law Association and a member of the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific.

Mohammad Yamin: the chief prosecutor

Not much is known about the 50-year old public prosecutor except that he has been working as a public prosecutor since 1966. He has managed to shun the press, a skill he most likely learned during his younger days as a journalist for the KAMI daily newspaper.

Yamin is a member of the Attorney General's Economic Crime Division who was appointed to lead the government's team in the trial.

The 1980 law graduate from Hasanuddin University in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, co-wrote a 1987 book on anti- corruption law with Baharuddin Lopa, the Director General of Correctional Institution.

Yamin will be assisted at the trial by Charles Mouw, Nurdin Salamin and Widyo Pramono.