C. Jakarta Court rules to try Sjahrizal and Bambang

C. Jakarta Court rules to try Sjahrizal and Bambang

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta District Court rejected
yesterday the objections by lawyers defending two former Bank
Bapindo directors relating to the Rp 1.3 trillion (US$620
million) loan scandal at the state-owned bank.

In two separate hearings, the court decided that the
government prosecutors have cases against both Sjahrizal and
Bambang Kuntjoro.

"The objections raised by the defendant's lawyers are
materials to be contested at the trial," Judge Sihol Sitompul,
who presided at Sjahrizal's trial, said. "The prosecutors'
charges are valid."

Judge Partoso, who is presiding over the trial of Bambang
Kuntjoro in a separate courtroom, gave a similar reason in his
ruling.

Both trials were adjourned until Monday at which time witness
testimony will begin.

The lawyers defending Sjahrizal and Bambang had earlier
appealed to the court to acquit their clients of corruption
charges, saying that the government has already convicted Maman
Suparman, former deputy manager of Bapindo's Jakarta branch, as
the main culprit.

Maman is now serving a nine-year jail term. Businessman Eddy
Tansil, to whom the Bapindo loans were extended, was sentenced to
17 years in jail and fined Rp 500 billion ($238 million).

The lawyers in almost identical statements argued that their
clients could not be tried for the huge losses inflicted on the
bank given that they had not even been questioned by the bank's
shareholders, in this case the government.

The lawyers claimed the prosecutors' charges were inconsistent
and ambiguous and therefore asked the court to reject the
charges.

Sjahrizal, 59, and Bambang, 53, have retained the services of
top lawyers Harjono Tjitrosoebono and Hotma Sitompoel,
respectively, to defend them at their trials.

Harjono accepted the judge's ruling but Hotma immediately
appealed to the High Court to overrule the decision.

Sjahrizal and Bambang are being held responsible, individually
or collectively, with other bank directors, for allowing the
debacle that almost bankrupted the bank. Two other former
directors, Subekti Ismaun and Towil Heryoto, are also being tried
on similar charges.

Judge Sitompul overruled the lawyers' argument that there had
been no criminal wrongdoing by the directors and that at the
most, they have committed administrative or civil wrongs because
Bapindo is a limited company.

The judge said under the country's law, a bank's director can
be tried for criminal wrongdoing.

Partoso also gave similar reasoning in the trial of Bambang.

Meanwhile, the trial of Subekti Ismaun at the South Jakarta
District Court proceeded yesterday with testimony from five
Bapindo staffers: Joseph Sukardi, Oto Shampo, Johannes Djijo,
Tursilo Hadi and Pratikno. (02)