BUN director acquitted

BUN director acquitted

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In another blow to the country's sluggish drive against
corruption, the Jakarta High Court overturned the prison term
imposed on former director of the now-defunct Bank Umum National
(BUN) by a lower court, in the Rp 6.7 trillion (US$788.2 million)
Bank Indonesia Liquidity Support fund (BLBI) misuse.

The appeals court also acquitted Leonard Tanubrata of all
corruption charges.

The panel of three judges -- Saman Hadi, Hasan Basri Passe and
Hartati -- argued the case against Leonard was civil rather than
criminal.

Therefore, the defendant must be exonerated, according to the
verdict issued on Oct. 26.

Leonard was earlier sentenced by the Central Jakarta District
Court to 10 years in prison for his role in the BLBI misuse
during the November 1997 to April 1999 period, when he served as
the BUN president director. He remains free after his appeal.

"Prosecutors (who handled Leonard's case) must appeal against
the verdict to the Supreme Court. It's a must," Attorney
General's Office spokesman Kemas Yahya Rahman said on Wednesday
in a response to the High Court's decision.

He said his office had ordered all prosecutors to immediately
file appeals against verdicts in corruption cases, where
defendants were acquitted by higher courts.

The BUN corruption case had been in the spotlight due to
apparent inconsistencies during its prosecution. The case was
also marred by the request of prosecutors for the Supreme Court
to replace Judge Amiruddin Zakaria, who presided over the trial,
for alleged foul play.

However, the most controversial issue surfaced when the
district court delivered the verdicts for both Leonard and co-
defendant Kaharudin Ongko, the BUN's commissioner.

While Leonard was convicted, the court ruled that Ongko was
not guilty of graft or of amassing wealth as charged earlier by
prosecutors.

The court argued that as a commissioner, Ongko was not
responsible for any decisions taken by the bank's director.

Prosecutors have appealed Ongko's verdict to the Supreme
Court.

The prosecutors had earlier sought 16 years in prison for
Ongko and 14 years for Leonard. They also demanded that the court
order the two defendants to repay state losses of Rp 6.7
trillion.

According to the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), many bank owners
had misused a total of Rp 144.5 trillion (US$16.2 billion) in
BLBI funds provided by the government.

Unfortunately, courts here have handed down seemingly unfair
sentences in the BLBI cases. Judges acquitted several defendants
of all charges, while others received lenient sentences, of only
several months or a few years in prison, as demanded by
prosecutors.

A court sentenced former banker Hendra Rahardja of the now-
defunct Bank BHS to life imprisonment and two other executives of
the same bank to 20 years in jail. But all the defendants were
tried in absentia.

The lengthy and controversial trials of dozens of BLBI misuse
cases has had no significant consequences for the state budget.
For the most part the courts failed to order defendants to repay
their ill-obtained money to the state.