Amien visits Sjahril to offer moral support

JAKARTA (JP): People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien Rais visited on Tuesday detained Bank Indonesia (BI) Governor Sjahril Sabirin to give him moral support ahead of a possible trial for his alleged role in the Bank Bali scandal.

Amien said after his 15-minute talk with Sjahril that he met the BI governor "as a friend".

Being a friend, Amien questioned the detention of Sjahril imposed by the Attorney General's Office last week. The measure was a mystery for Amien, who admitted he was confused about why Sjahril was singled out.

"Sjahril's role is just peripheral. The main actors in the scandal are the two other state officials, who forced Bank Indonesia to follow their designs, which was not independent at that time," he said. He refused to identify the officials.

Before Sjahril, former state minister of investment and state enterprises empowerment Tanri Abeng was named a suspect in the same case. But unlike Sjahril, Tanri can still breathe fresh air.

Sjahril's detention room is situated on the upper floor of a building adjacent to the Attorney General's Office.

Amien said even Sjahril could not understand the reasons behind his detention.

"He (Sjahril) still doesn't understand why he should be placed under custody given the fact that he behaved cooperatively during the investigation," Amien said.

"Pak Sjahril believes he is not guilty. He just followed the (central bank) procedure."

The scandal, which was uncovered last year, revolves from BI's reimbursement of Rp 904 billion for bank Bali's defaulted loans. Some Rp 546 billion was transferred to a private firm linked to the then ruling Golkar Party.

There has been suspicion that a large portion of the money went to help bankroll then president B.J. Habibie's renomination bid.

Minutes before entering his waiting car, Amien changed his role, claiming to act in his capacity as a state official when he requested that Attorney General Marzuki Darusman spare his time to clarify the motives behind Sjahril's detention.

Marzuki is attending an international conference in Warsaw and is scheduled to fly home on Thursday.

Amien acknowledged that Sjahril has been treated well while in detention, although he is restricted from reading newspapers, listening to the radio and watching television.

Moral support also came on that day from some legislators of the House of Representatives Commission IX for financial and budgetary affairs. They visited Sjahril, whom they called "a partner" in reference to the commission's control responsibility, which includes the central bank.

Usman Ermulan of Golkar faction said Sjahril was a victim of discriminative treatment, learning that the legislators had suggested investigation into another 12 people.

Meanwhile, Sjahril's wife, Murni Muis, and daughter have filed a complaint to the National Ombudsman Commission against alleged arbitrary measures by the Attorney General's Office. They said up to now they have never received any notification of Sjahril's detention. (bby)