'Bob' Hasan asks for judicial review

JAKARTA: Timber tycoon Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, who is serving a six year jail term for corruption, appeared on Thursday at the Central Jakarta District Court to file a request to the Supreme Court to review his case.

Hasan, a former minister in the New Order regime, is currently being held at Nusakambangan Penitentiary, located off the coast of Cilacap, a town in Central Java.

The Central Jakarta District Court in February this year sentenced Hasan to two years imprisonment and ordered him to pay compensation of Rp 14 billion.

He appealed to the high court, and as a result was sentenced to six years in jail and had to pay compensation of some US$ 243.7 billion. The sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court.

Hasan, a former chairman of the Association of Indonesian Forest Concessionaires (APHI), was found guilty of corruption in relation to a project involving the aerial mapping of forest concessions. The state suffered some US$75.62 million in losses as the Ministry of Forestry had financed the project through forestry funds.

His lawyer, Chairunnisa Jafizham, presented new pieces of evidence to the hearing on Thursday, including an audit report and documents supposedly testifying to Hasan's innocence.

Prosecutor Arnold Angkouw will present his response on Jan. 9.--JP